The Evolution of Organized Crime
by Artsome
Summary: In which Haruhi moves to a new neighborhood before middle-school, meets a shy redhead in the park who she then befriends. Kasanoda Ritsu in turn is surprised she is a girl after the first meeting and wonders how he could have missed it. Basically, Haruhi comes into contact with the Yakuza at a young age, and all shall dread the days to come.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary:** _In which Haruhi moves to a new neighborhood before middle-school, meets a shy redhead in the park who she then befriends. Kasanoda Ritsu in turn is surprised she is a girl after the first meeting and wonders how he could have missed it. _Basically, Haruhi comes into contact with the Yakuza at a young age, and all shall dread the days to come.

**Authors note:** Greetings new readers! Happy to have you here.

Hm, you want to know about this story? Honestly, this is a bit silly and totally a self-indulgence of mine. I like Haruhi's character and wanted to try writing about her life. Then a chibi Ritsu appeared, and, well, this story appeared. Stick with it, and you will hopefully find her journey through life amusing. I have plans, now we will just see if they will be fulfilled.

Hope you enjoy!

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Chapter 1

In a place where all sorts of people gathered, where it was considered bad form to actually be part of the norm, a small truck rumbled past and stopped with a cough. The white car that was vaguely dirty was filled to the brim with furniture that anyone's home would have, and the doors opened to let out two figures.

The taller figure, hips swaying and a bright grin on his face, walked around to unlock the compartment where several other men was waiting to help them move inside.

The shorter figure looked around with a sort of distant curiosity as she was more focused on the raining sky, straightening her raincoat almost mechanically.

"Oh Haruhi!" Her father gushed. "Isn't this exciting?"

"Yes, father." She answered politely, glancing to the apartment he was pointing at.

Ranka pouted at the tiny reaction he got, but he was soon grinning again as he fairly skipped towards a table and helped a man pick it up. Haruhi watched with an indulgent smile as he proceeded to prattle the poor worker's ears off with how and where he wanted everything to be placed.

Hopping inside the car again, she reverently picked up a small box and made sure that it wouldn't get wet as she steered herself inside their new place.

It was fairly small, all things considering. The entrance hall immediately widened into the living room where a stove and a fridge sat together in the corner. There was two doors on the opposite sides, one leading into their bedroom and the other into the bathroom. Ranka had been very apologetic in the beginning, saying carefully that they simply couldn't afford living at their old home any longer. And besides, he had gotten a new job opportunity that would be paying more, so they wouldn't have to stay long if she didn't want to!

Haruhi agreed easily enough, and thought it was kind of fun that she would be sharing the same futon as him. They hadn't done that before her mother had died, and she appreciated the closeness. Besides, western beds took up a lot of place and was kind of an unnecessary expense.

"Haruhi." A gentle hand settled on her shoulder. "What do you think?"

Peering up at her father that was in one of his more solemn moods, she offered him a rare smile. "It looks comfortable."

Ranka glanced down at her, a warm light shining through his eyes. "Yes," he hummed. "It does, doesn't it?" He looked at the apartment again. "It will do nicely."

She nodded sedately, and he huffed out a laughter. "Well, staring is all fine and dandy, but we have a house to move into! Furniture, here we come!"

He made a small spin on the spot, throwing up his hands for dramatics, and then marched out of the door and straight down to the car. Haruhi smiled again at her father, fondness making her linger for a moment before she followed him.

With the help of the movers they finished everything in time for dinner, Ranka insisting on puttering around in their kitchen for the 'special-new-place-uber-duper-occasion'!

Haruhi let him at it and instead set to unpacking the box she had first taken in. She took out candles, small plastic flowers and a cup for holding small food. Her hand lingered on the frame of an adult woman, business suit rumpled but hardly noticeable in the face of the bright and happy smile she wore.

Haruhi's mother was beautiful, she couldn't help but think. The picture only reaffirmed her resolution to follow in her footsteps, to share her mother's wisdom and perhaps become as strong as her one day.

Well, that and she kind of liked to surprise anyone who asks when she tells them of her ambition to become a lawyer. They always look so shell-shocked because of her age when Haruhi proves that she can accomplish it. A bit silly of them, Haruhi thinks, since they should know better that one can do whatever they want if they work hard enough. That was what her mother used to say, at least.

Smiling, she sat the picture carefully down and arranged the candles so they wouldn't obstruct the sight of it.

"Haruhi?" A soft voice called from behind her. He probably didn't want to startle her. "Food's done."

"Coming!" She raised a hand to gently touch the smiling woman's face before standing up and going to her father, effortlessly picking up the tray he was holding and helping him put it down. He pouted.

"I know I'm old, there is no need to rub it in," he grouched, moodily sitting down with an exaggerated huff.

Haruhi smiled as she sat down on the other side. "I think you look very young," she said honestly. He perked up in delight. "Though that beard adds a few more years," she added bluntly.

Ranka leaned back and clutched at his heart, as if shot. "Why, I never!" He mock gasped.

Haruhi hid her smile behind the rice bowl.

Her father smiled back and contemplatively scratched his chin. His nails made a thick rasping sound, and he grimaced. "Eh, I suppose you're right. But I haven't had the time to shave it yet!" He defended himself petulantly. "It's not my fault."

She nodded indulgently. "You start working tomorrow, don't you?"

"That's right." He noisily swallowed his bite of curry chicken. "Since it's my first day, I will probably work over-time to get the hang of things. Don't wait up for me, okay?"

"Okay," Haruhi echoed, her mind already whirling through everything she needed to get done the following day as she chewed absently at her rice.

"My daughter's not cute at all," Ranka grumbled. He stabbed a small chicken piece with his chopsticks. "She won't even miss me gone."

Haruhi gave a look worthy that his silly third person narrative deserved, but she couldn't deny the claim. "I won't," she agreed easily. Because for Haruhi, the fact that he was gone meant he was working and earning the money they definitely needed. She couldn't be selfish enough to want him home, that would be wrong. When she was younger, she had cried when her parents left the house and they would feel _so bad_ and regret closing the door.

She couldn't do that to her father. Not anymore. So she simply thought of all the good things and ignored the small twinge in her heart.

"... You won't miss me even if I stop by the fish market on the way home?"

Haruhi closed her eyes and smiled at the hopeful voice of her father. "I'll save you dinner," she said instead.

He cheered. "My daughter is the best!"

"I'm your only daughter," she pointed out.

He grumbled in answer, but he easily slid into the playful banter they would have over dinner. The new house looked a bit too shiny for her comfort and not much of a home, but it would soon change as the days would go.

In the meanwhile, the house would be alright to live in. And that's what really mattered.

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**A/N** It's short, but it's the prologue. It's supposed to be like that, honest! Next chapter will be the debut of Ritsu.

Any sort of reviews you might share, what your hopes are and so on, would be much appreciated. Thanks for reading and see you at the next update!


	2. Chapter 2

****Summary:**** Basically, Haruhi comes into contact with the Yakuza at a young age, and all shall dread the days to come.

****Authors note:**** I shall never ever again name a story in the last second before flying off to a corner of the planet. I positively suck at naming things when stressed. So, again, I've changed the title of this story. It fits better, I think. The Evolution of Organized Crime.

Did I mention that this story was going to be realistic? To some degree, at least? Yeah. No. You can probably tell that this chapter seriously derails into humor as apposed to the prologue. But hey, it's Ouran! This is the fate that befalls any fanfic in this fandom.

Hope you will enjoy the crack/parody thing I've got going on.

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Chapter 2

Morning came early and Haruhi watched drowsily as her father ran around getting himself fixed up. He ran from the bathroom to the closet and then back again, one hand holding cold green tea for breakfast and the other one trying to apply make-up. Ranka was surprisingly doing well with his multitasking.

"Going to be laaate," he murmured in singsong, frantically throwing a jacket on himself. "Dear, here's the keys," he handed them to her and kissed her forehead quickly. "Take care. Money's on the table and emergency phone numbers next to the landline."

He waved cheerily as he stepped out, closed the door, and went to his work.

Haruhi blinked sleepily and looked at the clock. 06:34. She didn't have anything to do today except to buy groceries for later, but the stores were closed at this time. She wasn't supposed to be cleaning the apartment either, since Ranka wanted to unload the boxes together with her.

Making herself a small rice breakfast, Haruhi decided that she could go out and explore after eating. While it was cloudy and the air laid heavily on the street, she might as well get it over with and hurry to find the markets before the rain came pouring down again.

Especially before the thunder and lightning.

Zipping up a high collared jacket, she tucker her hair inside and then went out, locking the door.

Wandering aimlessly, she explored the neighborhood they now lived in. It was nice, she decided, and not so much different from what she was used to. Haruhi found some markets with bargain sales and decided that she would go back and look when she had money on her. Her eyes lingered on the door where a large red fifty percent sale note hung before she shrugged and continued to walk.

There was a park right in front of her, and curiously, she entered, perfectly content to wander around alone. Haruhi expected that the early hour would discourage anyone else from exploring, but some smattering of laughter made her suspect that someone was already there. She lingered slightly at the edge of the park, not hiding but not announcing her presence either as she looked for the owner of that laugh. She didn't have to look hard as their bright jackets in the dreary weather stood out clearly. She counted four boys around her age, huddled into a loose ring and poking something that mewled. Frowning, and shifting a bit closer, she saw a cat that hissed in anger as one boy pulled its tail.

An angered cry came from another corner of the park, and she turned to see a redheaded boy come rushing in. "What the hell are you doing!" He bellowed. His eyes were narrowed and a dark glower made them cringe away.

"What?!" One boy snapped, shifting uneasily. "None of your business!" The one with red hair took one step forward, death almost whirling around him like a cloak. The four of them cringed away again, the cat escaping when it had its chance.

The boy paused momentarily when they took one step away from him, hurt flashing across his eyes, before his face crumpled into a snarl. "It _is_ my business if it's on my turf!" He shouted. The odd choice of words got a raised eyebrow from Haruhi.

"It's only a cat!" One boy yelped in defense.

"What's your deal?!" Another chimed in. The tallest of them cast distressed looks around the park, failing to notice her, and then tugged at what seemed to be his brother. "Let's get out of here, and leave this cat lover." The brother tried to sneer like an adult, but it only looked like a cute grimace in the face of the redheads dark and ominous glower.

They turned tail and ran.

The boy who was left stared angrily at the place where they had been, his hands softly trembling. Haruhi frowned, also looking at the place in disapproval.

Then she was jolted when he let out a nonverbal curse. He grimaced, sitting down on the wet grass as he continued to glower. A rustle disturbed his righteous facial gestures, and he whirled around to see the cat peeking curiously out from a bush. He smiled in relief. "You're alright. Good."

She watched curiously as the smile transformed his face from the impressive dark look into something very gentle.

The cat blinked its brightly glowing green eyes before leaving once again. His face fell. "Oh."

Having made up her mind, Haruhi walked up to the boy. "Do you know that cat?" She wondered.

He yelped, scrambled up and flung around with the scowl back on. "W-what?"

"The cat," she repeated patiently, tilting her head to the side slightly, "do you know it?"

"She," he corrected on reflex, but his mouth clicked shut when he registered it. A dark blush crept up from under his jacket and he scowled harder. "What's it up to you?"

"You seem to care for her," she observed, smiling. "She's probably grateful for your help."

His mouth opened, but no words was said. His eyes widened and he almost shifted a step back from her friendly smile. "Wha..."

Rolling back on her heels and looking around curiously, she wondered, "What are you doing here? It's pretty early."

Still feeling ruffled from her sudden appearance, he fell back on automatic responses. He sniffed arrogantly. "What do you think I'm doing in a park?" He retorted.

The tone flew right over Haruhi's head. "I don't know. I've never been here before," she said honestly. "I'm exploring right now. Though, I don't think there is anything to do here..." She muttered the last sentence to herself, looking over her shoulder to observe all the closed signs on the shops. She should have probably stayed home an hour or so longer.

It would be interesting to note at this point that Haruhi was speaking to Kasanoda Ritsu, the heir of the most successful yakuza group in the Kantō region. Considering that this area included Tokyo and had a population of more than 42 million people altogether, this was quite an achievement. No wonder the prepubescent redhead was incredibly proud of his inheritance. So when Haruhi hinted at disappointment that the place that was rightfully _his_ and the place he _lived in_ was _boring_, well, he thought he ought to change that.

"What do you mean?!" He blustered, puffing up in self righteous anger. "Of course there's stuff to do!"

She blinked in surprise. "That wasn't –"

He grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the center of the playground. Made of iron, a huge structure of tubes piled on top each other with a hollow center greeted them. It was at least thrice as high as them, and twice as wide. It was originally created by an artist that was fond of Swiss Cheese and wanted to immortalize the true meaning of the delicacy, but he made quite a poor error of planning when he decided to put it in the middle of a playground. The parents turned a blind eye when the children climbed around inside and the creator himself remained oblivious to the new function of his masterpiece.

All in all, Ritsu decided, it was probably fun. He had seen other kids in there after all.

Climbing inside and trying his best to conceal that it was a new experience to himself too, he beckoned the girl. His nervousness came out in a heavy scowl that would have made anyone sensible run away. "Come on, then," he growled.

Haruhi frowned in confusion, but she followed obediently in after him. "What are we doing here?"

"Having fun," came the clipped answer. It echoed strangely in the Swiss Cheese art piece, and inside, the wind whistled a tune of its own.

Her confusion only grew. "I... don't think that's how it works."

"Of _course_ it does," he grumbled, but his eyes flickered to the side in hesitance. He didn't actually play with anyone his age. Partly to blame was his full training schedule, but the main culprit would be his personality.

Luckily for him, Haruhi had never been one to judge. "I think you're trying too hard," she informed him quietly. His hackles raised immediately, prepared to chew her out and then storm away. But then she offered him a genuine smile, and he... forgot all about it. "Playing is all about having fun, so relax, alright?"

With those wise words, she took hold of a edge and hefted herself up, quickly stretching towards the one above it and climbing.

"W-what are you doing?"

She looked over her shoulder in deadpan. "Racing to the top," she stated, and then after his stare got a bit incredulous, she added, "and I'm winning."

"What?" He spluttered. His knee-jerk reaction that had been ingrained into him from birth was telling him that _he_ _never lost_. Ever. So he drew himself up to his full length and burst out, "N-no, you're not!"

Of course, it would have been more impressive if he hadn't actually stumbled over the words, or if Haruhi hadn't smiled in good humor. Turning to the other side, Ritsu also began to climb, blushing and determined to win. Being more of the athletic kind, he easily heaved himself up and gained ground rapidly from behind Haruhi. Unfortunately, her lead was simply too great and she won shortly thereafter.

She cheered as Ritsu scowled.

"One more time!" He demanded.

Haruhi glanced down skeptically at the climbing they would have to do again. "Let's not..." She suggested. He would only win immediately. Ritsu's scowl deepened and she shrugged. "We can do something else?"

He didn't like the thought of that, but he nodded reluctantly.

"Oh." Haruhi suddenly pointed to the corner in the park, making Ritsu startle. "Look," she deadpanned in the most monotone voice the boy had ever heard. "The evil overlord is coming. Run for your life."

Then she ducked and slowly stretched her leg down to a lower edge, determination written all over her face.

It took a moment for Ritsu to digest the words since it had been delivered with such a contradictory voice, but he understood soon enough and hurried to scramble off the Cheese sculpture with Haruhi. Together they jumped off the last step and ran for cover under the jungle gym. This somehow evolved into a contest on swinging the highest and Ritsu randomly kicking at any direction Haruhi pointed at to get rid off the Evil Overlord. In the end, they were breathless with laughter and the sun was high on top of the sky, hidden by impressively dark clouds.

It all stopped when a loud rumble was heard.

Haruhi froze mid motion, blood draining from her face and eyes widening.

Ritsu immediately became alarmed. "O-oi! Are you alright? Eh... Person-kun?" He winced, imagining his father hearing his stutter. Not to mention the fact that he had forgotten to ask for a _name_. Yes, Kasanoda senior would be appalled.

Mechanically, Haruhi turned. Her eyes darted around and a stiff smile stretched her lips. "I – I have to go. See you," she waved, and turned around to run home when –

Thunder crackled across the sky.

She jumped straight into Ritsu and buried her head in his shoulder. She whimpered when the thunder continued to grumble. "_Help_," she gasped out breathlessly.

It was Ritsu's turn to stand frozen stiff with wide eyes.

A small shaking form was burrowing deeper into _his_ arms. Two set of limbs that belonged to somebody that could scare his own father with just a look and someone was looking at _him_ for _comfort_ and – and – and his mind halted.

Something flashed from the corner of his eyes, and three seconds later, a deafening boom made the small form jump in alarm. Rain began to patter down on the ground as lightning streaked across the sky once more. "_Please_," was uttered with a voice so pitiful he couldn't help but be reminded of small puppies and large wet eyes.

His brain kick-started again.

Without real conscious thought, he backed them under the slide in the playground, carefully sitting down on a dry spot with the bundle of human in his arms.

They sat there for awhile, neither moving and no word exchanged between. The heavens continued to pour bucket after bucket over their heads and thunder rumble with whimpers echoed from his sort-of-kinda-maybe-hopefully friend.

Ritsu _really_ didn't know what to do.

He was patient though. And he could wait. Sort of... Alright, he was inwardly flailing around in panic. What was one supposed to _do_? His father hadn't taught him this!

"Uh... You okay?"

Haruhi jumped slightly, having forgotten all about his existence. She listened carefully, shivers wrecking through her body and heart constricting painfully, but to her relief she couldn't hear any more thunder. Not willing to risk it though, she only glimpsed upwards to the strange sight of a concerned face looking down at her.

Slowly, she nodded.

"Thank you."

Then she ducked down again when she saw something that lit up the grounds for a second, but the telltale thunder never came. Instead a loud voice reverberated over the patter of the rain, a distinct edge of panic and fright underlying it. "_Ritsu-sama_? Are you here, Ritsu-sama?" Out of the corner of her eyes, Haruhi saw the light sweep the playground. "Ritsu-sama?"

The boy she was burrowing into startled. "Over here!" He shouted.

"Ritsu-sama? Is that you?" The voice came closer along with the light, and several different footsteps followed.

"I'm over here!" He confirmed, shifting slightly with Haruhi in his arms, but otherwise not moving. He glanced down at her, the perpetually dark look marring his face twisting into some kind of reassurance that fit him just as much a clown nose would. "It's okay," he told her, "they're mine."

The possessive noun was even stranger though, and she took note of it.

"_There_ you are, Ritsu-sama. We have been looking for you all – and who is this?"

Haruhi glanced behind her. Three hulking and quite intimidating men stood there. The rain pattered down on their black umbrellas hard, and the hem of their pants was as drenched as their shiny business shoes. The sole flashlight directed at the two children only better accentuated the difference between their colorful rain jackets and the somber suits the men wore.

In all of this, Haruhi could only wonder, 'Ritsu-_sama_'?

"He's with me. I'm going home," the newly revealed Ritsu told them. He stood up with her, and the men hurriedly brought forward another umbrella and presented it above his head. He glanced to her, almost shyly if it wasn't for the harsh scowl, and muttered, "Do you want to come with me?"

She blinked.

Looking up at the sky that could begin to thunder any moment, and looking at the men that looked more and more like they belonged in the middle of a yakuza movie, she shrugged.

"I'm sure she has a family to go home to," the man with the flashlight offered his opinion. "She better get going before they worry."

While it would have sounded like a threat to anybody else, especially since this came from a man with a harsh tone and tattoos glimpsing from under his shirt, Haruhi tended to cut through any opinion that anybody else would have come to. So she gave him a smile instead, a bit confused. "Otou-san won't be home before dark," she told them honestly. "No one will be home waiting for me."

If there was any possible way to melt three hardened men instantly, Haruhi had just inadvertently stumbled upon it. Large brown eyes looked up at them, tears clinging to the girl's lashes and a faintly trembling lip could be seen from under the large raincoat.

They staggered, as if shot.

"Besides," she continued, "it wouldn't surprise me if he stays at his work over the night."

That tone was so pitiful to their ears that they would gladly kick a puppy to keep it from resurfacing in her voice again. Haruhi blinked up at them, completely clueless and wondering exactly why they were holding their faces, staring at her with wide eyes. "You," the man with the flashlight intoned carefully, "are coming with us."

And that was how Haruhi found herself getting dragged towards an inconspicuous black car while Ritsu walked regally next to her, at least two umbrellas always over his head. It drove in the exact opposite direction of her house, and she frowned, looking outside the window.

"Is this a kidnapping?" She wondered.

"Noooo," one of the men assured her.

She looked at both of the intimidating men sitting right next to her, the one that was driving expertly and then she looked down at herself, wet and dripping on the seats that felt more expensive than their new house. Ritsu glowered heavily from his front seat, but Haruhi had figured out quickly that it was his default expression.

"Are you sure?" She questioned doubtfully.

"Yeeees," the same man assured her, and for some reason holding his face again, cheeks reddening as he stared down at her.

Haruhi blinked. "Alright...? If you say so."

While she was quite confused, she decided to simply roll with it. Anything that could make her focus on something else than the threatening clouds outside was a good thing to her mind. That it just so happened to be very threatening men was neither here nor there. It didn't stop her from feeling completely bemused though when they finally rolled to a stop next to a compound. To say nothing about the men rushing out to line against the walkway and bowing, which was pretty disturbing enough thanks, but the entrance was actually a _one minute car drive_ from the compound's _edge_. Exactly who had she met at the playground?

The people who had very possibly kidnapped her got out first, bowing and getting out an umbrella for them. "Ritsu-sama, if you would please..."

Ritsu stepped out with ease born from familiarity, a heavy scowl that made the men shiver.

Haruhi followed, feeling a bit mystified, but quite obligingly walked next to the boy and inside his home.

Somehow, without even noticing, she had been ushered into a private room, got changed, ushered back to where Ritsu was waiting, been accused of changing genders while in the room, heard his stomach grumbling and ate a very formal dinner with him, watched his face flush every time she smiled, left a message for her dad that said she was sleeping over at a friend's house because of the rain, and then a futon had been brought out next to Ritsu's own.

… She just kind of stared down at her bed. Then she looked at Ritsu who was shifting slightly with a glower that made her suspect he was nervous.

Then she stared down at the bed again.

Instead of running from the place, screaming hysterically like the subordinates clearly expected, she rolled with this too. The day had been exhausting enough without getting stuck in little details like a possible kidnapping or sleeping in a strange place.

"Thank you," she said, offering a small sincere smile to him. If she was thanking him for the dinner or the distraction from the thunder remained unclear since she crawled into her futon, effectively ending the conversation. "Good night, Ritsu-kun."

Considering the lights were off, no one was thankfully able to see Ritsu's beet red face.

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**A/N** Chibi Ritsu is terribly awkward while being scary and fails horribly at friendship. Haruhi in turn is so blunt it hurts in your heart and has quite an unique way of looking at life. … Cute? I would like to think so.

I'm a little hesitant in posting this though. I like having a firm grasp about my characters before showing it to anyone. What do you think? Was their interaction bad? Did the slight switching between perspectives confuse you?

Thank you so much for reading this! I appreciate every single one of you. See you at the next update!


	3. Chapter 3

****Summary:**** Basically, Haruhi comes into contact with the Yakuza at a young age, and all shall dread the days to come.

****Authors note:**** More Haruhi to the people! This chapter will mostly be how yakuza and Haruhi gets along, a sort of milestone in their continued relationship.

Thanks for liking this story, everyone! I will see through it to the end, I promise. I will never abandon a fanfic after posting it. And seriously, there's too many plot bunnies chasing each other in this one, and I have to write them down before they flood my poor head.

Hope you enjoy this chapter!

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Chapter 3

The sleepover ended without any real fanfare. Breakfast had been eaten in bed, and then she changed into her own clothes, escorted home by the same sorta kidnappers and delivered to her door like an odd present but without the bow. Ranka had been delighted though, cooing about his precious Haruhi making friends so fast. His eyes were probably too bloodshot from a night spent up that he completely missed the limousine she had been escorted in and the general visage of 'I'm-scary-Fear-me' that the men clouded themselves in.

She promptly ignored his mother-fussing and made him lunch before he had to go to work again, mumbling something about inconsistent schedules and his coworkers being mean because he was new.

The days afterward, without even meaning to and planning it, Haruhi and Ritsu met at that park every morning. Perhaps it was the novelty of someone his own age not fearing him that kept Ritsu unwittingly rising up in the morning, and perhaps it was Haruhi's desire of not being alone, but they grew to become friends in that short amount of time span.

And what a strange pair of friends they made, even though it took some time to shove the concept down the boy's throat.

"Why do you," he cleared his throat awkwardly, "play with me?"

She looked at him with wide confused eyes. "We're friends, aren't we? I thought it was obvious." After a slight pause, she added, "And I'm Haruhi, by the way. Nice to meet you."

Or at least, they were a set of peculiar friends when they got past the repeated accusations at the beginning. Ritsu just wouldn't let it go when he saw Haruhi come the day after with a flowery dress and hair swept to the side with a butterfly pin courtesy of Ranka. The sun was making its appearance again beautifully, and he wanted his daughter to look the same.

"No. You can't!"

"Yes. I can."

"But you're a _boy_." He sounded so offended, like she couldn't possibly have a different gender, and really, his opinion on the topic was the only thing that should matter. She felt slight irritation, but she tampered it down with a huge wallop patience.

"No, I'm _not._"

"Of course you are! You – You – Uh..."

Haruhi pursed her lips. "Should I show you?"

Ritsu couldn't have clammed up any faster if she had told him that the yakuza empire was actually a ballet routine, a hot blush working up from his neck and towards his ears. He eventually stammered out his denial and gracefully never brought the topic up again. _Of course_ she was a girl, heh, how could he have missed it?

He shot panicked looks at his hidden subordinates in the bushes. They had buried their heads in their hands, an alarming sort of wheeze coming out, but they managed to offer Ritsu a shakily held thumbs up.

The girl in question stared at him oddly, wondering why he refused so adamantly to see her birth certificate. Was he allergic to reading?

So, as said before, after some bumps at the start, Haruhi and Ritsu began a friendship that could be described as wonderful, but mostly got everyone and everything wondering; "The heck are they up to now?"

It wasn't even that they were mischievous and went around pulling pranks, which would admittedly give Kasanoda senior – a hardened man successfully leading the top yakuza empire – a heart attack of fright. The simple matter was that they were such an unlikely pair to make friends with each other. Or Ritsu making a friend _at all_. Period. Haruhi's first invite to the Kasanoda compound could be chalked up to a fluke. A week later, Haruhi was spontaneously invited after lunch time. The sun was shining and there really was no reason for her to be there except the simple wonders of friendship.

Friendship with Kasanoda Ritsu.

_The yakuza heir_.

The subordinates couldn't let go of that fact.

Haruhi, as was her state of affairs, completely ignored their looks as she strolled inside with Ritsu, hands clasped firmly together with his. She warred between complete exasperation and bemusement when subordinates – for what else could they be with all the Ritsu-sama they threw around – tripped over themselves in their hurry to line up at the walkway and bow.

"Welcome home, Ritsu-sama!" They chorused.

The boy in question was floundering quietly as he was wont to do, projecting an aura of pure menace that made everyone else recoil in horror. Haruhi eyed him sideways, offering him a squeeze with her hand as reassurance at his nervousness. "You wanted to show me something," she prompted. And really, with the way he had brightened up at this mystery item and literally sang praises with only a small smile, Haruhi figured it was important enough to him. Considering that she had already bought the groceries for the day, she had needed little convincing to follow him home again.

This time, thankfully, they walked to the compound. She hadn't noticed before how close they really lived so it came as a surprise when there was only twenty minutes between their houses. Calling the massive compound a _house_ was a bit of a stretch though. Haruhi had a faint but persistent niggling thought that Ritsu's living area was the reason the Fujioka family could have moved in at such a low price.

She side-eyed the bowing subordinates again.

"Yeah. Right!" Ritsu straightened at the thought of this 'something', and he now began to actively lead Haruhi instead of stamping nervously beside her. His scowl cleared up somewhat, but it was still impressive enough to make the subordinates sweat.

They left them behind with little fanfare, leaving them to thoughts of frantic explanations to how exactly anyone could be friends with such a scary boy, and they went to another corner of the compound.

He explained a little as they went, "Our bedroom's in that cluster of houses in the middle," he nodded outside where, huh, more houses were. "Kitchen's over there," he waved absently the other direction, "Guest rooms, dining rooms, changing rooms, meeting rooms around there," Haruhi looked to where they had just passed, mutely horrified at how ridiculously big the place was, and then Ritsu concluded; "The dojo is over here!"

He nudged the traditional sliding door open, revealing what was very possibly one and a half of a football court. She stared at it in bafflement. Really, they had the space for this? Ritsu grinned smugly at her expression, especially when she noticed several people lined up inside and practicing some sort of attack with a bokken at each other. He slid it shut again, however. Shuffling over to another door at the other side of the hallway, he slid it open to reveal a smaller, more private dojo. No one was training inside.

Briefly undecided, he shuffled on the spot before squaring his shoulders. "Come on," he beckoned.

She looked around the smaller space, a bit irritated that it was still bigger than her whole apartment, but felt mitigated that Ritsu wasn't there to gloat. In fact, he had instantly zeroed in on the small alcove to their right. There wasn't anything on it except two swords, from what Haruhi could see. They were a set of differing sizes, held up by a multiple tiered stand. Ritsu's hand was hovering above the largest scabbard, almost hesitant to touch it. She walked forward, peering more closely at it.

"Is this what you wanted to show me?"

He gulped, nodded, but still didn't touch it. "I – This is a heirloom of the Kasanoda family." His face softened, awe shining through his dark glare. "My father thought I was old enough to begin training with it yesterday."

"Really?" She made a vague sound of interest. The sword didn't look like anything special. It was just a katana in her eyes. A tall and adult looking katana – but still nothing special. "That's nice of him."

"Yeah."

Haruhi waited a long moment, only watching him stare at it, until her patience finally came to an end. She nudged him. Ha darted a glance to her, eyes shining suspiciously before he finally reached forward to touch it. Ritsu held it reverently against his chest.

Unwillingly, a soft smile formed on her lips. He really loved that katana, didn't he?

"Do you... want to train with it?" She offered hesitantly. His grip tightened briefly. "You know, try and wield it? If you don't mind me watching."

He bit his lip in indecision. Then he nodded, altering his grip and holding it properly at his side. She noted with some bemusement that it almost touched the floor. Definitely a katana for adults. With a wooden clunk, Ritsu pulled the sword from its scabbard. He held it aloof, just holding it there, letting the sun catch its edge and staring at it.

He was full out smiling now. "It's beautiful," he murmured.

She raised an eyebrow in mild confusion. "You mean you haven't seen it properly before?"

His eyes darted to the floor, scuffing it with his toes. A blush steadily worked its way up to his ears. "I," he wet his lips, gulped, and continued quietly, "I wanted to show you first."

Something warm and satisfying spread through her stomach. Haruhi couldn't identify it, but she liked the feeling. It was nice. She smiled, trying to convey everything through her expression alone. "Thank you." She stepped up to him, giving him a sideways hug much to his embarrassment. "It means a lot to me that you're sharing the experience. Thank you."

He cuffed the floor again, but an answering smile bloomed across his face. He turned to face her, returning the hug awkwardly.

Unseen for the both of them, Kasanoda senior stood frozen in the doorway. When Ritsu untangled himself and began showing different grips and stances used with a katana, Haruhi watching carefully, Kasanoda senior managed to close the door silently. He staggered back to his room, gait unsteady from the full blast of sparkles that had been shoved at him.

Again, he wondered at the enigma that Ritsu had found a friend. And like what the common thought shared by everyone at the Kasanoda compound would be from now on, he wondered, "Will the world survive a friend of Ritsu?"

Because if she was going to become a recurring guest, he would have to build up a heavy immunity to the easy acceptance she seemed to be embodying. And the sparkles. Definitely the sparkles.

He shuddered.

* * *

The days almost seemed to fly past that summer, a comfortable routine forming. Ranka was gradually getting used to his new job. His former job as a shopkeeper at a liquor store couldn't really prepare him as a professional transvestite more than how to deal with drunks and he had a lot to learn. Haruhi was fully supporting his decision however, not even complaining when they had to move or when he insisted on his new stage name.

Sometimes, Ranka just wanted to hold her tight and blubber all over her what a beautiful daughter he had. If she was in a good mood, Haruhi would allow this for a moment before rebuffing his tearful face with a firm suggestion that she had to go grocery shopping.

He still loved her, independent and all.

His new schedule at his job made late night shifts more prominent, but there were some lunch shifts that he had to go up and do. This made it so that Haruhi's own routines changed to adapt his. In the mornings when he was still asleep, she went out and met with Ritsu. At nine, she came back and made breakfast for the bleary eyed father. After this, she either went grocery shopping or sat down with their bills and tried to sort them out. Ranka was horrible with managing money, so she learned from month to month what was needed. After this, she made lunch and either went back to play with Ritsu if she could find him or continued working on some summer homework.

In two weeks, Haruhi would transfer to a new school after all. It was best if she could jump straight into the class without fumbling at their pace, so she had requested the school for some assignments other children her age had to do.

They were surprisingly hard, but still doable.

Unknown to Haruhi, the homework was for those one year older. Since she had sorted this out with the school on her own, Ranka didn't know and couldn't spot the mistake.

Though to be completely honest, if Haruhi would have known she wouldn't have bothered correcting them anyway, so it didn't really matter.

On those days when she went with Ritsu instead, they went to his compound more often than not. They frequently played hide-and-go-seek in their huge backyard to the amused indulgence of the adults. Sometimes they wandered back to that playground they met at first, two bodyguards following after and whistling discretely.

On one particular day, a week until school started again, the compound was experiencing a small emergency. A flu had swept through the cooks and ten at most was left to operate the kitchen and feed the small army that lived at the compound. So when Ritsu and Haruhi walked inside after lunch they still weren't even near being finished. In fact, they had only just started.

Haruhi clearly remembered them being nice to her that first day she had come, feeding her warm food even though she had been an unannounced guest, and she felt her heart squeeze. She turned solemnly to Ritsu.

"No." He didn't even know why the knee jerk answer came out, but that look from Haruhi didn't bode anything well. "No, Haruhi. _Don't_."

Her eyes became, if possible, larger at this. "Please."

"Wha–" Ritsu shook his head, not even knowing what he was denying. His scowl became more prominent when he puffed his chest out. "Whatever you're thinking, don't," he growled menacingly.

She only looked at him. Didn't even blink.

Ritsu wavered.

She tilted her head slightly, looking up through her eyelashes.

Ritsu fell. Hard. He let out a long-drawn gusty exhalation, shoulders slumping. "What do you want to do?" He muttered.

She smiled. "Let's help them!"

He quickly found himself roped inside the kitchen area, cooks frantically running around and trying to fix lunch to increasingly grumpier adults. His stomach also grumbled in protest, but he valiantly ignored it. "What in the – " A cook shouted across the room. "Where is the beef?!"

"Isn't it there?" Another cook shot up, alarmed.

"No, no it –"

"Wasn't it Raimaru's turn to order more? He's sick."

The cook who had originally spoken up slammed his hand against the refrigerator door. "Damn it! No chicken, meat or fish. We're so screwed."

The rest of the cooks began flailing around, bemoaning about their life choices and considering seppuku.

Haruhi looked at them, thoroughly unimpressed. She glanced at Ritsu, as if confirming that he wasn't behaving like an idiot, and then marched over to their walk-in refrigerator cooler. She had to stand on her tiptoes to see inside the small window. Fruits of all sorts lied neatly on their shelves, vegetables and different sauces and oils in their own space. She nodded firmly. It would work.

Banking on the door to gain everyone's attention, Haruhi began. "So what if there isn't any meat? Really, there's tons of recipes you can still choose from!"

The cooks glanced at each other, frowning in confusion as to why a little girl was in the kitchen. They still answered though. "You don't understand. They think it isn't filling otherwise and start complaining afterwards."

Haruhi deadpanned. "Really? They must all be spoiled." Everyone, Ritsu included, choked when Kasanoda senior was described as 'spoiled'. Haruhi continued undeterred. "Any food is better than no food, so they have no right to complain. They should be grateful to have any sort of food on their plate. Father always says food is the way to a man's heart, so shouldn't they understand your mistake if you try honestly?"

The cooks teared up slightly.

"So what do you think about Soba with toasted sesame seed sauce?" She tilted her head cutely and smiled. "There's no meat involved and it's easy to make in masses."

What happened next went by so fast that Ritsu was stuck staring. Since Haruhi was the only one that knew the exact recipe, apparently a memento from her mother, she began steering everyone to their stations. They obediently plucked up the ingredients needed, adjusting on their own for the amount of people since Haruhi had only memorized the recipe for at most ten people. When it came to cooking it however, the kitchen really felt too big for her to help everywhere. So she climbed on top of a crate and began directing them like a meister to his orchestra. They responded beautifully, almost as if she had always belonged there.

"What should I set the oven for?"

"190 degrees Celsius!"

"What amount of salt should I –"

"I usually take a tablespoon for a smaller pot."

"Alright then, triple the amount."

"Don't forget the garlic! It brings forward the –"

"–Soba! Okay, got it."

"Chop the paprika in bigger slices. Let them have something to chew on."

"Should I really pour sugar here?"

"It balances out the soy sauce, so it's important."

Ritsu stared. They were running around and making food for about eight dozen people, following instructions as they went because it would take too long for Haruhi to show them how to do it. He didn't know if this showed the excellent improvisation skills their cooks had or the skills Haruhi had. Ritsu thought it was a little bit of both.

When everyone was occupied in either slicing or dicing, frying or cooking, Haruhi jumped down and started to help the station occupied with toasting the sesame seeds. She shooed the cook away and assured him she could do this alone. Gratefully, he ran to the station that was slicing an incredible amount of vegetables and started helping there.

Haruhi quickly spotted Ritsu standing rooted to the spot, dumbfounded, and she frowned. "What are you doing over there? Can you help me?"

In a slight daze, Ritsu trudged to her side and sat down at a crate when she directed him towards it.

"Just watch the sesame seeds," she instructed him lightly, eyes fixed on the others' progress. "It should be done in ten to fifteen minutes, but I generally take them out when they show signs of a golden color. Call me then and I will put more in there if needed."

A cook shouted a question, and she raised an arm to show she was coming. Pausing briefly, she turned to him and offered him a wide grateful smile. "You're doing a very kind thing, helping out. Thank you."

Then she walked off, cheeks puffed out adorably and mixing oils and spices with a practiced hand. Ritsu on the other hand suddenly felt like the kitchen was very warm indeed and started to stare fixedly into the oven.

From that day on, she could hardly pass by any of the cooks without them stopping and ruffling her hair in thanks. The food had come out, and while the yakuza was hesitant in any lunch dish without meat, it was received with great delight. Haruhi sometimes detoured to their kitchen to help them when needed and the cooks now had a small stash of recipes that she had written down for them. The yakuza themselves was much more enthusiastic by Ritsu's friend at the end.

The whole thing escalated even more when Haruhi eyed a room that had dark stains seeping into the tatami. She was musing that she wanted to repay all the kindness she had been showed, and there, the perfect opportunity had been presented. Without anyone noticing, she simply picked up a mop and a bucket filled with water, scrubbing persistently on the infamous Wall of Doom. Not that she knew what it was named, only that her apartment was clean and it would be nice if Ritsu's home could be likewise. The Wall of Doom on the other hand was something else. It was dirty. Really dirty. Years and years of abuse had given its name. But she cleaned it through sheer force of will, leaving behind awed yakuza. The wall had gained its epithet because it could apparently never be cleaned.

The Wall of Doom had obviously never met a determined Haruhi.

Was it so strange that she gained popularity rapidly from that day on? Everyone knew who she was now. The bodyguards always discretely escorting Ritsu and Haruhi became the desired occupation literally over night.

Haruhi didn't notice though. They were more friendly, sure, but she was playing with Ritsu. They climbed trees, made plays about an Evil Overlord and rolled around in the grass. They had other things to think about. They were being kids.

Of course, this only made them more endearing.

Thus, this was how Haruhi came to be called "Nee-san" the day before school started. Just don't tell her that it means she's officially become one of their female members, because she would be completely exasperated.

She was that anyway when they began to line up in a bow at their walkway, crying their tearful complaints that summer was over for her. When Haruhi palms her face, Ritsu walks forward. He's scowling, but a darkly satisfied grin made the subordinates scatter again.

_So, as said before, after some bumps at the start, Haruhi and Ritsu began a friendship that could be described as wonderful, but mostly got everyone and everything wondering; "The heck are they up to now?"_

This was thought in the most affectionate manner though, of course.

* * *

**A/N** Aaaaand end! This was fun to write.

You all might notice this, but I'm trying to slowly speed through her earlier years. It's fun writing a young Haruhi and Ritsu, but for the rest of my plans they really need to grow up. She's currently jumping into elementary school again, so I will go through that and then junior high school before it's time for Ouran and _their_ high school (–That's a lot of years, geez). This story will probably go past canon according to their time line, and I'm definitely leaning more towards the manga on this one.

Any characters you are looking forward to meet? If there's a huge outcry, chances are that he/she will pop up sooner. I'm quite liquid in that manner.

Thanks for reading, and we'll see each other in the next update! Stay summer-y, dear readers.


	4. Chapter 4

****Summary:**** Basically, Haruhi comes into contact with the Yakuza at a young age, and all shall dread the days to come.

****Authors note:**** So far, I've got Nekosawa, the Hitachiin twins, the two cousins Mori and Honey, and of course, more Ritsu and Haruhi that you're looking forward to meet. The last two are guaranteed and the rest will probably come sooner rather than later. There's a few more chapters before I can go into the other side of the world though. The yakuza have her right now, and apparently, they don't like sharing. I'm still open for suggestions of characters of course. I love hearing from you all, so I wouldn't mind at all!

Anyway, a quick Japanese lesson. Oyabun means boss. Yakuza boss to be more accurate. There's a lot of hierarchy going on in the yakuza world, but I probably won't go into it too deeply since this is more humor than realism. _But_, since I'm horrible at predicting these things, expect a quick Japanese lesson from time to time. First of all, Nee-san is actually the respectful word for sister, and I have it from reliable resources that female members of the yakuza is always called older sister unless they're the actual Oyabun. _Everyone_ under the boss is called Kobun, the subordinates. So when I write about the subordinates doing this or that, I'm not talking about the goofy gofers. I'm pointing to the deadly but still adorable subordinates. Oyabun and the Kobun relationship in the yakuza is family, hence the Nee-san for the female.

Got it? Good. Here's the chapter, enjoy!

* * *

o0o0o0o0o0o

Chapter 4

In the Kasanoda yakuza grounds, Fujioka Haruhi had initially been treated like an exotic bug; pretty to look at but should probably be either extinguished or kept away from. The sheer fact that Ritsu was happy to see her made a lot of them uncomfortable about Haruhi. She acted normally however, completely oblivious about all this, and charmed everyone that was near her more than five minutes. Prime example: she argues to the cooks that the ingredients could be cheap without being disgusting, and to prove this, she shares some recipes and then helps them cook and later wash dishes that's been heartily eaten from. She'd also seen a wall that looked murky and dark in a tucked away place on the grounds, and on the _spur of the moment_, – honestly, this child – decided to clean it up. Years and years got scraped away to the awe of the lower grunts and appreciation of higher ups.

Then came the time when Ritsu's father invites her over on a whim. It was the unofficial official acknowledgment everyone had been waiting for.

The whim wasn't really that however, not really, for he could see talent when it was right in front of his nose. _Especially_ when members of the Kasanoda family were starting to pout at the mere mention of the Fujioka girl. Amused resignation was an apt description at what he felt when he invited her to a training session with his son. She had stared up at him, startled, but then drew back and began to think aloud. "I usually don't... Are you sure I won't disturb you?" He assured her that she wouldn't. She nodded. "Alright then. I just have to cook a larger portion before leaving. Shop for dinner and then I have to clean up since father will probably bring home his job friends... Homework is almost done, so that's no worry... Hm. Alright! I'll come."

Bemused at her list for what she was going to do after school – since she was like, what, eight? – he was satisfied when she agreed.

It would have admittedly been odd if he had been denied. _No one_ said no to him.

Worse still was the fact that if she _had_ said no, he wasn't sure that he could have done anything about it. She was a very precocious child, and if he wasn't missing his mark entirely, also had everyone in the main Kasanoda compound under her thumb. He ignored the voice that whispered that no, she didn't have them under her thumb, she had them _wrapped around_ her thumb, which was somehow worse.

How embarrassing.

"Why are _you_ here?!" Ritsu squawked.

Kasanoda senior busied himself with fixing the equipment for today's lesson and tried very hard not to smirk. It proved fruitless however, when he heard Ritsu splutter at Haruhi's entrance. He glanced over to see a very confused girl tie her hair up in a high ponytail. She had changed into training clothes consisting of a white shirt and black shorts, and he inwardly nodded in appreciation at the sensible choice.

"I was... invited?" Her eyes flickered to him, and he goes back to the equipment, pretending not to feel the piercing stare of his son.

"Really." The flat tone almost bowls him over, either into fits of hilarity or horror. That one word oozed of pointed malice that almost choked his throat. His son would definitely have no problem becoming a proper Oyabun when he grows up. He's so proud!

"I'm sorry? I can leave if you don't want me here."

"I – uh, n-no, it's great."

An almost tangible pause before Haruhi eventually inquiries, "... Does that mean I can stay or that I should go?"

"Stay!" Ritsu blurted out. He flushed so much that the room's temperature was actually beginning to rise. "I mean, uh, if you want to stay, you can stay."

Haruhi nodded, smiling warmly. "Then I'll stay, thank you."

While Kasanoda did enjoy seeing the flustered visage of his son, he found himself clearing his throat to dissipate their conversation. Ritsu needed to learn how to interact with civilians at an early age, and Haruhi was perfect for that. Though only one glance at his face was needed to admit, if only to himself, that small doses would be the better part of valor in this case. What would happen to their empire if his heir was to spontaneously undergo combustion? Nothing good, he imagined.

"Let's begin, shall we?"

Ritsu shot him a grateful look, and his chest swelled with warm paternal feelings. That look hadn't even been passively scary. Progress!

"What are we doing?" Haruhi asked, trotting dutifully to stand next to her friend. "You never said."

"Kenjutsu practice."

She made a surprised noise when he threw a bamboo sword at her, catching it with some fumbling. The small paranoid whisper that she might be a spy died a slow dwindling death as he observed the entirely wrong grip. Reflexes was hard to wean off, especially at such a young age. Haruhi really was a civilian. He offered her a sharp, reassuring nod. "The basics are easy to understand," he stepped forward, flicking his eyes to the side to bid Ritsu to pick up his own practice sword. His son didn't even hesitate in moving off, ingrained respect for senior teachers making him bow shortly before heading directly to where he usually practiced his routine.

Kasanoda senior waited a beat before he turned to Haruhi, motioning for her to raise her hands and immediately rapped his knuckles against her fingers when she did so; startling a disgruntled sound from her. He ignored it. "I think, in your case, the right hold would be a good place to start."

She gave him a baleful look, but underneath it something calculating lurked. Her eyes flickered once to Ritsu before settling on him again, deep, heavy and surprisingly judgmental for a child. He didn't know exactly what she was looking for, but if she couldn't take orders from _him_, probably the most powerful man in the entire Japanese underworld, she would never last. He stood silently, looking down at her and never letting his gaze waver. He never even let himself contemplate that he was having a _stare-off with a child_, since no one that saw this would let him forget it in a million years, and instead projected all the poise an Oyabun accumulated after a lifetime. This was her test.

If she was actually able to pass, well, it would be completely up to her.

Curiously enough, she didn't even shift under his attention. She returned it, albeit weakly considering her age, and tilted her head.

A beat later she was smiling, eyes curved gently in pleased contentment. He blinked at the abruptness. "I've never held a weapon before," she admitted a moment later, a confession that held an open invitation.

He felt oddly proud of her at that moment.

Shaking off the odd feeling, he corrected her two handed grip with sharp snaps to her fingers. She grimaced but didn't complain, intent on soaking in knowledge. Haruhi learned quickly though, perhaps from the risk of more smarting fingers if she didn't, and he found himself guiding her arms more gently in circled motions that forced her torso to spin but her feet remain unmoving. He showed how the grip would change depending on where it was held and she nodded seriously, a small furrow between her brows.

He observed her for a while as she experimentally shifted, trying to get used to the bamboo sword.

"Got it?" He questioned eventually. In answer, she loosened her fingers, letting the sword dangle on her fingertips before she flipped her hand and adjusted her grip correctly. It was kind of cute how solemn she was trying to be. He stifled a chuckle and instead reached over to snap at her thumb. "Loosen your grip. It will put unnecessary strain on you otherwise."

Ritsu walked over at that moment, expression faintly curious but eyes intimidating. Haruhi was quietly nursing her fingers but was otherwise fine, so he didn't think he deserved that evil glare in his direction. Mentally cowering, he cleared his throat. "Would you mind showing your friend the starting techniques? It will be good training for you too."

Distracted by the suggestion, his glare tampered off when Haruhi turned to him, smiling while she bowed lightly. "I will be under your care."

His chin immediately dipped liked he wanted to burrow under his clothes. He made a vague affirmative noise before sliding smoothly into the first stance, staring resolutely forward and completely ignoring the blush that dusted his cheeks. She blinked, bemused, but copied him a bit shakily.

Kasanoda senior couldn't help but look at them, two preschoolers that practiced swings in the private dojo of the head family. An abrupt thought of adoption appeared as Haruhi began to wobble dangerously and Ritsu came to her rescue with his shoulder before she fell. They still tangled together, looking like they were one body as they flailed in an effort not to fall. It almost – no, wait, not almost, – it really felt like she had always belonged right there with the two of them. But she already had a parent, didn't she? A pity. He would have seriously considered adoption if that wasn't so.

With a bit of reluctance, he broke them apart by the scruff of their clothes and bade Ritsu to start his own training again. Haruhi had already been shown the basics so she could train on her own. His son nodded and made to his own corner of the room. Except the occasional fall from Haruhi or the occasional correction from himself, the training actually went quite smoothly.

Ritsu would sometimes bound over to Haruhi though when he thought his father wasn't looking and help her with a few swings, much to his father's amusement, before going back to his own training. He allowed it though since he would have otherwise corrected them himself.

"Ritsu," he interrupted after a good hour had gone. "Do you want to try that with the katana?"

His son's eyes widened, sharing a hopeful glance with Haruhi. "Are you sure?" His voice was almost small, nearly hesitant. "Can I?"

He dipped his head. "You can."

If it wasn't such an uncouth word, he would have described his son as _scrambling_ to take up the sword.

"Start with the lotus and then go from there," he commanded, and then added to Haruhi, "Continue with your own set."

"Yes," the both of them chorused, before starting again.

He eyed Ritsu critically, trying to suppress the proud feeling his son's quick learning always invoked. His grip on the scabbard was awkward at first, either from nerves or the unfamiliarity of a real katana, before his expression firmed and he pulled it with one smooth motion. His stance changed as his feet slid out and his back curved like a tightly wound cord. Then it _snapped_, and his son began a flurry of exchanges with an imaginary enemy. Some of the swings overreached and his feet was a bit off in their stance, but otherwise, he thought that it was a great job for his first time.

He continued to observe him until his son was done, muscles straining as the boy tried to hold the position as long as possible.

Ritsu's heavy breathing was only broken when he sharply nodded. "Good job."

Haruhi immediately dropped the sword, more out of relief to her aching fingers than any real spite towards it, and began to clap softly. "That was amazing," she told him honestly. "I didn't know you were that good."

If Ritsu had been any other person, he would have rubbed the back of his neck and muttered, 'Aw, shucks'. But since this was Ritsu, all he did was blush a vivid red and look away, all the while trying not to blush a vivid red for getting a compliment.

Haruhi smiled slightly, head tilted to the side and adorable in her confusion at his reaction.

Ritsu's father was hard tempted not to lunge for the nearest camera just so that he could capture this once-in-a-lifetime moment. Considering that he was embodying all the calm and apropos that was suited for a man of his station, he settled with staring quite intently at the two children so that he might forever ingrain it into his memory.

It was quite a scene for any person to walk into.

The yakuza member took one look at the glowering boss in the corner, a boy frantically trying to dig himself a hole right there on the floor, and a girl that seemed to have sparkles and sunshine behind her. He took one look, and then slowly backed away.

The door slid open again after a moment.

The same subordinate peeked in, took a photograph with a sharp blinding click, and ducked out before the two Kasanoda could murder him. The weigh of their combined eyes when Haruhi lost her smile and frowned instead was enough for any man to flee for his life. "I'm going to make a copy for youuuuuu–" Came the the cry after the quickly disappearing man. Ritsu only doubled his chase in embarrassment while his father stopped in mollification.

"I want it framed," he grumbled mulishly anyway.

* * *

The next day was one of the longer schooldays with two hours math, history, biology and literature. It was plenty to make anybody tired, especially someone that had just endured a brutal introduction to kenjutsu the day before. Haruhi moved through the schedule with her homework already written, thankful that she wouldn't need to sit in the library after school hours. Her shoulders ached and her legs felt uncomfortably stiff. She was completely oblivious to the looks of some prepubescent boys when she rubbed her thighs absently, stretching towards the sky with a mournful sigh. She was more focused on actually going home since it would take at least half an hour if she was fast.

This was, of course, hindered by the giant limousine parked right outside the entrance of the school.

… Let's repeat that.

A _limousine_ stood _parked_ in front of her _school._

She recognized that limousine in a vague sort of horrified way.

Haruhi stood in the middle of the walkway and just _stared_. She briefly contemplated hiding, but it was too late for that. Two muscled men in intimidating suits had already spotted her, and in one smooth motion, they bowed perfectly in thirty degrees. "Nee-san!" They chorused.

A startled silence enveloped the entrance and the entire street as all motion ceased. Everyone took one uneasy look at the obviously yakuza figures and then at Haruhi, a small girl with brown doe eyes. A pin could have dropped and it would have definitely been heard. As if they were one mind, everyone took one large step away from Haruhi, leaving her in a large circle of solitude.

She rubbed her face, quelling the desire to do violence with one large sigh instead.

Haruhi also recognized the two subordinates as two out of the four that had picked her up in the rain. They looked incredibly smug at the moment, almost beaming at her with a split lip and an impressive bruise on a cheek respectively. The bodyguards that followed after Ritsu when he went out usually were the same, but after summer ended, they had begun to change. They also had some sort of injury while looking suspiciously victorious that they got to follow after them. Haruhi decided immediately not to touch upon the subject, discarding the thought into the pile that was named 'for fear of insanity'.

The pile was at the moment small enough to be swept under the rug, thankfully. She didn't know exactly how much more she could handle though. But _surely_ it wouldn't matter, right? There was no way any more insane things would cross into her life.

Holding firm to that thought and not even pretending to acknowledge the doubt the pessimistic side of her offered, she gripped her backpack tighter and approached them. They straightened from their bow and opened the door for her. "Nee-san! Good to see you again."

One fainthearted person passed out at the word 'again'. Three more fainted when one yakuza shot a glare at them, clearly saying '_Shut up_', but with fewer words and many more expletives added.

Haruhi didn't even need to look at him as she swatted the bodyguard in chastisement.

"I can't go with you today," she explained, shrugging in apology. "Sorry. I'm heading straight home."

She glanced at the car, almost dismissively, before walking away in the direction of her apartment. It took a moment for the words to actually register in the two subordinates heads, but when they did, the two were quick in shutting the door and scrambling after her. The limousine driver obligingly followed them at a snail pace as it kept up with them.

Haruhi continued to ignore them, but she was attracting quite a bit of stares though. She resisted the urge to look behind her at the weird entourage following behind. It must have been a real strange sight for anyone looking.

With an effort that was suspiciously becoming easier for every day, she brushed that thought away too and put it in the 'for fear of insanity' pile.

"Nee-san, what do you mean?" One of them asked, five streets later. She twitched at the sudden question.

"I mean," she paused, then emphasized, "that I'm _going home_."

With that said, because how else could she rephrase the fact that _she was going home_, she made a sharp turn into an alleyway that was barely large enough for a grown man. Haruhi easily squeezed herself past electric cabinets and forgotten low-hanging flags from New Years Eve. The limousine outside made a sort of sad sounding wheeze as it rolled to a stop, and the two bodyguards' indecision was almost palpable as they peered into the alleyway.

Haruhi looked behind her shoulder, feeling a little guilty at their crestfallen expressions. "I'll come by tomorrow instead, alright?" Just as they brightened, she frowned. "And don't pick me up from school again!"

The looked crestfallen again, but still defiant. She closed her eyes and counted to ten. Without another backwards glance, she hurried through the alleyway before they could change their minds and headed straight home.

* * *

Ranka, her dear adorably obnoxious but still her own father, had decided that she would visit him at his work place today. He had quickly rattled off the address before kissing her goodbye and leaving while she was still half awake at six in the morning. It was lucky for him that she had heard him. Especially since she got an '_escort'_ earlier this day. She was... well, she didn't know exactly how she felt about that, really. Confused. Exasperated most definitely. She could walk perfectly fine on her own two legs. Why did they think that she needed anyone driving her? If she learned that Ranka was in on this, he would get an earful the next time they met.

Shaking her head, she stopped at the address she had been given. It was situated at the outskirts of the richer area of the town. The skyscrapers began only a few streets away while the mall was a few streets the other way, nearer to home, and Ritsu's compound was even farther away. No wonder the hosts in the bar was in such high demand. It was literally placed in the middle of the best of two worlds.

Making a mental note to check the mall later this week, she followed the directions the sign gave her and walked up one floor and looked at the lavish door of the Host Club. It was a bright glaring yellow, its name proudly proclaimed on it in bronzed letters. "Amariro?" She mused out loud. It was certainly an odd name, but if she remembered her father's words correctly, it was named after a Spanish color. Just to make extra sure the customers knew, smaller letters underneath it proclaimed 'Host Club', and underneath _that_ a sheet of paper with faces and names of those one could book.

A gorgeous woman with flowing brown hair winked up at her from the sheet, frozen in an perpetual flirtatious expression. 'Ranka' was proclaimed proudly next to the picture.

Yep, that was definitely her father.

She didn't even hesitate before entering the yellow monstrosity, but when she was slammed with darkness and the deep smell of perfume mingling with alcohol and food, she stopped, a shiver wrecking through her frame.

The crossdressers that worked there didn't seem to mind. They sat at various booths, flirting and conversing with the customers while others casually leaned against the bar, laughing at something the bartender said. Music drifted out of strategically placed speakers, a tone that sounded excited but low enough that people could easily speak. Thick heavy drapes covered the windows she knew was placed on one side of the wall and muted lamps hung in the ceiling. Add to that, the whole place had the decorations made in a deep red tone. Even the small fake tealights on the tables emitted a warm red glow.

Contrasting to that was the bright sparkling clothes the employees had on them. Some even glowed in the dark.

It was quite overwhelming to be honest.

One of the workers noticed her hanging at the door, and after catching Haruhi's eye with a wave, the person came over. "Are you lost, dear? Do you need help?"

The crossdresser was clad in layers upon layers of kimono with bright silver thread interwoven in a autumn pattern and long black hair twisted in an elegant hairdo. Chin tucked in like that and smile humble, Haruhi barely noticed the Adam's apple bobbing as the worker swallowed.

Haruhi observed all of this, feeling a little dizzy by the perfume that clung in the air. "This," she admitted, "is confusing."

"What is?"

Haruhi grimaced, looking up with all the consternation eight years allowed her. "Do you prefer male or female pronouns?" She asked seriously.

The geisha lookalike blinked, a startled laugh escaping bright red lips.

"Good question! You can call me Oneechan, dear. I wouldn't mind. So female pronouns, I guess? But it depends, really." Seeing Haruhi's consternation deepen, the woman hid another laugh behind her sleeve. "It depends on the person," she clarified, "but when we're working, we all use female pronouns. Most prefer male after work's done, but you have to ask them individually if it bothers you that much."

Haruhi's expression cleared and she nodded in understanding. "Ah, alright. Thank you Oneechan."

She offered a gentle smile. "Glad to be of help, dear. Now, is there something else you need?"

"Do you know where my father is? He's," she paused, frowning, before smoothly switching the words, "_she's_ supposed to get out in an hour."

"... Ranka? You're _Ranka's_ daughter?"

She looked at the baffled expression, frowning. "Yes?"

The woman's hands fluttered a little. "I– are you sure? I mean – why are you _here_?"

"Father asked me to," she responded simply.

"But there's alcohol here! That's no place for a child." She tutted. Seeing Haruhi's stubborn expression, she sighed. "Oh alright then. Come here and I will try to find Ranka for you."

Turning around and waving for Haruhi to follow, she did so with a polite nod. "Thank you." She got another smile in return as the crossdresser weaved expertly through the few customers they had at this early hour. Haruhi could faintly remember that the Amariro Host Club bar wasn't exclusively serving at evenings and forward into the night, but that people could actually book the bar any hour of the day with a weeks notice. That's why her father had to go to work earlier than she was awake sometimes. The pay was good, so she knew his grumbling was halfhearted at best.

It was a weird place though. Haruhi wasn't sure if she would ever be interested in something like a Host Club.

At least the employees were nice.

"Okay, sit down here and I will fetch Ranka." Motioning towards the bar stool, the woman turned to walk away. She paused, however, when Haruhi struggled to get up on the thing. Smothering an inelegant snort, she turned back and easily hefted the girl up. "There you go. Barkeep, do you mind looking after her?" She called gently.

The bartender ignored her, wiping off a glass and chatting amicably with another crossdressing hostess.

Haruhi saw that her jaw tightened in annoyance. "Oneechan, I don't really need –"

"Nonsense," she brusquely waved off, smile plastered on. "Barkeeper? Hello?"

Again, no answer.

"Barkeep?"

Haruhi began to get nervous. The ominous feeling had grown, and she was practically being smothered by the whipping emotions next to her. "Maybe we should –"

Hands slammed down on the bar, rattling the few glasses that was nearby. "_OI_! _Barkeep_! _Over here ya big lump_!"

Startled, the bartender whipped around and hurried over. The harsh growling sounded nothing like the former pleasant voice, but when Haruhi looked up, the crossdresser had already returned to that gentle smile, no trace of any sort of annoyance. "Thank you," she said slowly, amicably. "Can you look after Haruhi here while I grab Ranka for her? Alright. Thank you."

She turned and left, both Haruhi and the bartender staring after her with wide eyes.

"... I don't think I ever told her my name," Haruhi finally got out.

"Oh." He chuckled. "Ranka never shuts up about you. Of course we know your name."

"Oh," she echoed.

Silence stretched between them, and with a shrug, the man went back to cleaning.

The employee that the bartender had been talking to before sidled over, a bright red dress hugging her waist and flaring out at her hips. "Is this her?" The muscled woman grinned at her, pink eyelashes fluttering teasingly. "I overheard you talking. You know, I've always wanted to meet you."

She frowned. "Why?"

"Well, Ha-ru-hi-chan," she dragged the syllables out. "It's quite simple really. We share the same name." Sticking her hand out in a western handshake, she grinned. "I'm also Haruhi!"

Bemused, she allowed her hand to be shaken. "Weird coincidence."

"Isn't it? But I go by Haru here, you know, more feminine instead of that androgynous name. And kid, you really don't talk your age! I thought your dad was joking when he said that. At least the photos he brings doesn't lie. You're much cuter than your crossdresser of a dad."

Haruhi hummed, tilting her head questioningly. This woman really loves to talk. "Really? You think so?" She thought that her father was pretty enough though.

"Definitely." She affirmed. Reaching over and pinching one cheek firmly, she ignored Haruhi's disgruntled frown. "Just look at this. Your father doesn't hold a candle to your cuteness. You had to have gotten your genes from the fairer side."

She squirmed uncomfortably. Her mother had only died three years ago, so the memories were fresh enough, and similarly, old enough that she wasn't quite sure how to respond to that. "I guess."

"Oi." A sudden voice interjected. "I resent that. I can be cute too!"

Ranka stomped over to them, mouth pressed into a pout. Haruhi brightened at the sight of a familiar face.

The other crossdresser pointedly stared at Haruhi, glanced at Ranka, and then stared at Haruhi again. "Yea– nope. She's leagues better than your cuteness."

Warm brown eyes blinked up at her father and Ranka instantly deflated. "Guess I can't argue with that."

Haruhi offered a brief smile and looked away, now distinctly uncomfortable. The place reminded her of the subordinates she met, except instead of awe and familial fondness, these people were pinching her cheeks and lulling people to false safety with a smooth voice. They were probably nice people, but she couldn't help but desire the simple orderliness at Ritsu's compound.

Her father seemed to sense this. "Just let me clean up and we'll head home. You can stop by your friend's place while I cook for a change. Would you like that?"

She got to her father's side in a shot, squeezing Ranka's sequined dress in the middle. "Thank you thank you thank you," she blubbered.

Whatever got her out of this place felt like a godsend at this point.

Half an hour later, when she walked in after several happy greetings of "Nee-san" and big airy rooms the compound consisted of, she folded Ritsu into a hug immediately after she found him. He blushed, stammering, hands flailing. She caught him glancing at the sunny sky outside the window, and she couldn't help but smile.

Haruhi had realized that being an heir to a successful yakuza enterprise, because she wasn't blind, was probably much harder than she had initially thought. Just the thought of what would happen if more people like those Hosts existed made her shiver.

They all had kind hearts of course, just like these people over here, but the difference was apparently with the employers. She was happy that the subordinates here had turned out better.

"You're doing great," she informed him somberly.

He stared at her with a deer in the headlights expression.

Haruhi smiled and gave him another brief hug. "I have to go home before father burns something. It was good to see you."

She was already halfway across the street when she paused, turning her head to holler at the subordinates watching her go with the same sort of shell shock Ritsu had. "And everyone, don't even think about picking me up from school!"

Satisfied, she went on her way home again, a newly found appreciation to what exactly insanity entailed. Of course it was her father that fell neatly into that pile, and not exactly the yakuza. Priorities Haruhi, she reminded herself.

Prioritize the insanity.

* * *

**A/N **Yes, you read that right. Haruhi just compared the yakuza Kobun to crossdressing hosts. But in her defense, they do share similarities in her point of view.

Alright then, please tell me what you thought! This chapter got longer than normal, so I hope it more than makes up for the wait. I don't know about you, but I really loved the scene where she tries out kenjutsu. Many of my readers already guessed something like that would happen, so I hoped I didn't disappoint!

For those that wants to personally chat with me, stalk me or generally be a little internet-social, I have a tumblr now! My name over there is artsomee, and you're all cordially invited to hang with me.

And as a side note, I do believe that the Wall of Doom was covered in what you think it is. I will neither deny nor confirm.

See you all at the next update!


	5. Chapter 5

****Summary:**** Basically, Haruhi comes into contact with the Yakuza at a young age, and all shall dread the days to come.

****Authors note:**** People, readers and cats. Are you happy to see me again? I certainly am! Thanks for all the favorites and follows. The reviews was what made me come back quicker though, so an extra big hug to you all! I tried to update Clockwork and a Teacup today, but it wasn't really ready, so this came up instead. I have a small tradition to always update on my birthday. Be happy for my sake, m'kay?

Concerning the pairing(s), I will let that matter lie for the moment. This will be family and friendship mainly with a slice of romance. A romcom with extra yakuza, yeah? I'll bring the subject up again in chapter 10 when she's older and it's more up for discussion. I'm personally leaning for one-sided pairings with Haruhi. Would be a fun and a fresh breeze in this fandom where everyone have a fixed pairing. Or am I wrong? Please, let me hear your opinion!

(And oh, by the way, for clarification; Haruhi is somewhere around eight right now. She will move to middle-school at twelve and high-school when she's fifteen.)

Anyway. Enjoy!

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o0o0o0o0o0o

Chapter 5

Haruhi settled herself comfortably into a seiza and closed her eyes, hands pressing against each other in a prayer. The small alcove in front of her had a small vase with blue plastic flowers, unlit incense and a framed photograph of her parent.

"Dear mother in heaven," she murmured, "a lot of things have happened. I think... I finally got that friend you wanted me to have. His name is Ritsu. He likes animals, swords and is probably an heir of the local yakuza... I bet you would have liked him."

Haruhi opened her eyes, smile small as she looked at her mother's grin.

"Don't worry though. I won't forget my studies. Just wait, I'll be a lawyer too, soon."

It was easier said than done, however. The following week after she visited her father's job for the first time was probably one of the busiest she's ever had. She didn't even have time to visit Ritsu. She couldn't have possibly known that her school was gearing up for 'Autumn of Sports' when she had made the promise though, but she still felt guilty. The current week was the start of a seasonal theme among many that was widely regarded to be important enough to make the teachers cram extra homework to make up for the few days that the students would be spending outside the classroom. Her former school had themes like that, but it had completely slipped Haruhi's mind on what that would entail.

She had, of course, been reminded now.

Shuffling over to the center of the living room again, she scowled down at the papers and books strewn over the table. Haruhi was normally very orderly, but she was stuck on a question the teachers had given them to do over the weekend. Two subjects, both Japanese and History, had paired up to give them a combined homework with multiple questions. They all had to be answered, if only briefly, and it could also be written as one long text on the condition that it would be at least two pages long or longer.

Haruhi was stumped over the _first_ question, which was basically the starting point where the other questions would be based on, so she couldn't even skip it. That small innocuous question was driving her crazy. It was too easy! It had to be a trick question. The work she'd gotten to ease herself into the class over the summer had been much harder. She hadn't even known some of the words then and had to use a dictionary to continue.

The whole matter was only aggrieved more by the fact that she only had the night to finish it.

She narrowed her eyes at the question. "_What is the origin of the Japanese language_?"

What was that even supposed to mean? The Japanese language belonged to the Japonic family tree, but was she supposed to write when exactly the Japonic language started? Or was she supposed to figure out the true origin from which the Japonic language was based on? The lessons at school had briefly touched upon influences from countries in Asia, but had quickly been steered away to discussing the mongolian horse riders and early wet rice farmers from Korea instead.

They couldn't possibly want her to write _that_ down, though.

Haruhi frowned further, plucking one of several books that was bookmarked. She had gone to the library yesterday when her frustration had peeked and loaned books clearly out of her age range, but it was the only thing she could do considering her source material from school was severely lacking. Even so, it was only one small problem with that arrangement.

_None_ of the books could agree with an origin.

She flipped through one book, lingering slightly on the advanced kanji before stopping at the passage that was giving her so much trouble. It wrote, in quite plain text since it was a summary, that Japanese was a relative to the Altaic language family which included Turkish and Mongolian among others. The evidence laid in its linguistic process, pitch similarities and basic vocabulary.

… It frankly felt like her vocabulary was taking leaps forward simply by staring at these passages. In any case, at least the dictionary was finally seeing some use.

She glanced at the clock and grimaced. It was nearing midnight and the fatigue was dragging her eyelids down. The only thing stopping her from falling asleep at this point was her determination and the fact that her father would soon be coming home.

Not to mention the glaring disappointment she would feel to herself if she failed this assignment. She would _never_ be able to become a lawyer then... She picked her pen up and clenched it tightly.

If one book proposed Austronesian language as the Japanese origin, and the other a relation to Dravidian language in southern India, then she would just have to write them all down. Haruhi had stumbled onto the meaning of multiple references and how to clinically pick them apart, so she would try to apply it this time.

She felt her heart briefly sink when looking at the seven books of different authors, but she squared her shoulders and started to write. The followup questions about how the language might have developed, the similarities to the origin and why she would think so would all be answered in one fellow swoop this way. It might take awhile, but she's going to finish this thing in time for her first class tomorrow _or else_.

* * *

"Ah, alright, before you leave for the day, please take this permission slip and have your parents sign it in time for Wednesday." The teacher requested politely. He got cheers and a chorus of agreements as the students began to line up, chattering excitedly on their way out of the classroom. "And Fujioka-chan? Please stay a moment."

Haruhi paused in her movements of picking up her work, blinking in confusion. "Alright, sensei."

She waited until the room had been emptied before moving forward and putting the permission slip into her bag. "Yes? Was there something you wanted?"

The teacher nodded as he opened a drawer and pulled out six pages that looked eerily familiar to her. "Did you write this?" She nodded mutely, recognizing the homework assignment she had stayed up until four to do. It was kind of obvious it was hers considering the name on top proudly declared it to be so. He only looked amazed as he looked down at it again. "Fujioka-chan, this is incredible! I've been a teacher for a very long time, and I don't think I've ever seen such an intuitive leap from someone so young!"

"Intuitive?" She echoed, smothering a yawn. The lack of sleep was really messing with her. She thought she just heard her teacher praising her for something she rushed over the night. "... I guess?"

"You guess?" He spluttered. "This work is above and beyond what we demanded. You even have a list of references! Fujioka-chan, no one and not even the experts knows the true origin of our Japanese language, so we really didn't expect anyone to answer so thoroughly. The assignment was more about collecting information."

She blinked. Slowly.

Exasperation warred with exhaustion.

"We didn't even say more than the basics so that we didn't confuse you too much. Two pages was really pushing it for some students anyway."

Her head dropped. Exhaustion won out in the end. "You could have just said that," she mumbled.

"Sorry, what did you sa..." Her teacher paused, head turning to the door where sounds drifted in from. It sounded like a commotion of normal school standards, but what caught Haruhi's attention was the familiar mutters from the last time a limousine had rolled to the entrance. Suddenly, her exasperation jumped up and crushed exhaustion under its heel.

"Sensei, can I be excused?"

"Hm? Oh, right, of course you can. Don't forget to get your dad to sign the slip, and my compliments to your homework! Hope to see this quality in the future!"

Haruhi bowed politely in thanks before making her way straight to the entrance, only shortly exchanging her indoor shoes to her normal ones all the while whispering under her breath, "_Please_ don't pick me up, please _don't_ be here to pick me up, _please_ don't, _please_ _don't_ pick me –"

They were there to pick her up.

She stopped, her face falling blank as she stared.

Two subordinates were casually loitering outside the school grounds, whistling innocently as they each read a newspaper. Their effort of not being conspicuous fell flat though. Especially considering their refined clothes and that the one with dark sunglasses was holding his newspaper upside down. She resisted the urge to palm her face.

Despite this, it wasn't even them the gathered students were staring and whispering at. Ritsu stood on the other side of the gate, casually propped against the wall in his school uniform that distinctively _did not_ belong to theirs. His cheeks was red, and anytime someone came near him, he would glower and grunt out a explosive; "Hrnh!?" that quickly forced them to flee.

Haruhi suspected that it was their untimely placement of standing on both sides of the entrance that made the students too afraid of going home. It was curious, in a completely exasperated sort of way, how Ritsu interacted with other people and how they in turn reacted to him.

Deciding to take pity on her cowering classmates, she marched straight at Ritsu. She didn't acknowledge his brightening expression with more than a narrowing of her eyes as she placed her hand flat on his back and pulled him alongside her. "You're coming with me."

"W-wha?"

As she thought, the two subordinates that was today's bodyguards had to hurry to keep pace with them, leaving the entrance clear to the relief of every child inside. They scurried out, whisper-shouting with hands cupping their mouth as they left, "_Thanks, Haruhi-san_!"

This only increased her exasperation.

"What are you doing here?" She glanced behind her and added, "I thought I told you not to pick me up from school?"

"We didn't!" The one with sunglasses was quick to defend him and his partner with. "We didn't bring the limousine this time!"

Yes, because _the_ _limousine_ was what she meant in particular.

"Sorry," Ritsu mumbled, eyes downcast. She looked back at him. "It's just that... long time since we... and I missed..." He glanced up at her, flushed, and then began glowering at random inanimate objects along their way.

Haruhi wasn't sure if his voice had been low enough that she couldn't catch some words or if he simply didn't bother to say them out loud, but she sighed anyway. A fond smile tugged at her lips briefly before she ruthlessly stomped it down. She had to be direct if this was going to work.

"You guys," she sighed, "you can't keep coming to my school. Limousine or no."

Ritsu's shoulders rose as his scowl deepened. "Why not?"

"Well, how to put it... Because you don't belong here," she said bluntly. The subordinates behind her choked as Ritsu stumbled, staring wide-eyed at her. "I mean," she continued obliviously, "you go to a different school, and it must be quite a way off from your route. Wouldn't it be better if you stayed and did your work?"

Ritsu went quiet.

Stifling a yawn, Haruhi thought about her own homework. She basically had to stay up all night to finish it. What if he had visited last Friday? She wouldn't have had the time and he would have wasted his own time just stopping by. He already had so much things on his plate, like sword training and extra lessons with his father along with his own schoolwork, that she always felt vaguely guilty only thinking about occupying more of his time. Just because she had a friend didn't mean she should get greedy.

It would be better for the two of them if they tried to finish quickly and _then_ meet up.

"Then... you're ashamed. Of _me_."

She blinked in confusion, looking at him askance.

He stopped walking, forcing Haruhi and the two subordinates to do likewise. His head was lowered and his fists was clenched. She could detect a fine tremble to his shoulders. "Y-you – You don't think I'm your _friend_?" He sharply turned to her, red blooming across his cheeks as his tone rose. "You don't want to be seen with me? That's it, isn't it? The hell would I want with someone like you then–"

"What?" She interrupted him. Befuddled, she frowned. "Of course we're friends. Stop talking nonsense."

He quieted again. Something wet dripped down on his cheek and he roughly wiped it away with the back of his hand. "But you don't want me here."

"Well, yes, that's true." Before his expression could crumple even more, Haruhi continued in bemusement. "I don't want to hinder you. You must have something that you're working hard to gain. A dream, a job, a school... I don't want to be the reason you miss that."

Ritsu drew back, eyes wide.

"I've seen you when you talk about your family." Unknowingly, Haruhi's face softened as she smiled slightly. "You really like them, don't you? And your training. It's all very important to you, isn't it?" She glanced at him from under her lashes, soft understanding shining through. "I don't want to be the reason you miss out on that."

Slowly, a blush crept up from his neck up to his ears.

"Err – _Ugh_ – Hrnh..." He stammered out odd sounds, his perpetual glower worsening from his embarrassment. He was practically vibrating in his shoes in his need to voice something. It all clogged somewhere in his stomach though, and he was only able to open and close his mouth awkwardly, closely mimicking a fish in the motion.

It was suspiciously silent behind them.

Haruhi shrugged. She couldn't really understand why he was reacting so, but she decided to let the matter lie. "You can call my landline if you want to," she suggested. "It's probably easier on schooldays."

He nodded numbly.

She gave him an odd look. "Well... Since you're here, want to do something?"

That seemed to kick start his brain again. He drew himself up, scowling down at the ground. "I thought that we could," he cleared his throat aggressively, "get dinner." With a glance at her, he hurried to add, as if sensing a need to defend himself, "It's four in the afternoon after all."

She blinked.

"Ah. Sure."

"I mean, we don't have to if you don't – Wait, you want to?"

"Why not? I'm hungry." Haruhi thought back to the little money she had with her. It would probably be enough to buy groceries and for something light to eat outside. Her father always did say that she should splurge on herself.

"Allow us to drive you there!" A subordinate suddenly piped up from behind them. Haruhi startled, almost having forgotten about them. She glanced back and saw one of them proudly pointing a thumb at his own chest. "I came prepared you see. The limousine is only –" The other subordinate hurriedly shoved his elbow into his ribs, making him double over and wheeze, but it was too late.

Haruhi's face fell flat. "So you did bring the limousine."

"No!" He assured her, hands flailing and sunglasses bobbing on his nose. He paused. "Well, yes, but it's nowhere near the school, Nee-san!" He was quick to guarantee. "Tatsu here is an idiot, you see, and..." He trailed off at the murderous look Ritsu was emitting like waves. He did the smart thing and immediately hunkered down together with a wheezing Tatsu, eyes wide and mouth clamped shut.

Haruhi heaved a gusty sigh. What was Ritsu's relationship with people anyway? He seemed to alternatively attract them like honey to flies, and then with a flip of a coin, he was more akin to bug spray. Really, she didn't get it at all.

"That's alright," she decided after a moment. "We might as well walk. There's a Shokudo nearby."

Ritsu perked up, half-scowling and half looking hopeful as he offered, "I can pay–"

"They don't go over the price range of 1,500 yen," she shot down instantly. "I can afford it."

He slumped, but nodded obligingly. The two subordinates vigorously didn't mention their opinion in fear of a repeat performance and instead walked silently behind them as Haruhi led the way.

It was in the busy hours when they squeezed inside the small restaurant. The waiter was flickering from one table to the other, a smile firmly fixed on his face and the smell of newly cooked food clinging to his clothes. Luckily for Haruhi and Ritsu, two four-person tables were empty. The two children zeroed in on one, the waiter immediately handing them a menu, and they perused the options with a delightful rumble of their stomachs.

She pointed to one. "What about this one?" Ritsu glanced over, crinkling his nose at the option and almost glaring a burning hole into it. Haruhi sighed, but rolled her eyes with surprising fondness. "Alright. Not that one. This one?"

In the background, small bells tinkled, announcing the arrival of two new guests. Their small laughter blended into the atmosphere of the restaurant, and it was only when they came closer that Haruhi noticed them. She glanced up, offering a nod to the couple. They nodded back in gratitude at the unsaid invitation to use their table. Haruhi and Ritsu had two extra seats since the subordinates had decided not to sit with them, and besides, they were small enough for there to be absolutely no problem with the arrangement.

"Do you like donburi?" Ritsu questioned, effectively grabbing back her attention. She glanced down at the menu, quickly skipping to the place he was looking at.

"Well enough, I suppose," she mused. "Do you know if –"

The couple that sat down suddenly shot up before hurriedly running outside.

Haruhi paused, watching their exit as they almost stumbled in their haste. "... Perhaps they left the oven on?" She offered feebly. Ritsu didn't seem to notice anything amiss, eyes shortly flickering up and giving a grunt before he pointed to another option.

"Soba's always a classic," she agreed slowly.

The bell tinkled again while Haruhi and Ritsu quietly went through the options listed. While he seemed to be omnivorous in his food tastes, she learned that he did like to argument in his own let's-discuss-this way if nothing else. A single person sat down at their table in the meanwhile, barely lifting his menu before he was also hurriedly standing up and running outside the door.

Again, she paused and watched him with suspicion. Were they smelly or something? How rude.

"Do you like pickles?" She asked eventually.

"Yes," he nodded sharply, shifting slightly as another couple sat down next to them. "I like all pickled vegetables... except potatoes." He wrinkled his brow, glowering down at the menu.

"Then it's good that there isn't –" the couple fled their table, and Haruhi paused slightly before continuing, bemused, "– any on the menu."

"Hrnh," he grunted firmly in agreement.

The bell tinkled, and her head shot up, watching intently as two teenager boys mock pushed each other, chuckling under their breaths. They each took a menu, glancing around the filled room before spotting Haruhi's table. They grinned, nodding, before making their way towards them.

Halfway to them, they stopped, shivered and glanced around again.

They stopped to stare.

They then fled the room, hastily tossing the menus on a table and tripping over themselves as they both shoved themselves out of the narrow door.

Haruhi followed their dawning horror filled gazes to the other previously empty table.

Exasperated now, Haruhi gave their stalker bodyguards an irritated stare. They were occupying the other almost-empty table, today's newspaper up to hide their faces but putting them down and giving the most frightening glare to anybody who dared to walk up to any of the free spaces left around Haruhi and Ritsu. Which was a complete waste, in Haruhi's humble opinion. So she snagged Ritsu's hand and marched over to them.

"You don't mind, do you?"

Not giving them a chance to get over her frigid smile, she ducked under the table and popped up closest to the window, taking out the menu like nothing had happened. With a bemused smile, Ritsu followed suit, clambering over Tatsu instead of taking the same route as hers. Tatsu flailed, caught between surprise and the need to boost Ritsu over him. In the end, his hands was firmly fixed in the air, garnering a few nervously amused glances.

"I'm getting curry," Haruhi declared, looking over at them. "What about you?"

"We'll take curry," Ritsu agreed. His own look to the subordinates screamed 'take it or leave it'. Since they had known him since birth, they did not so much as put up a token protest to this.

"Sounds good! Fantastic! Great!"

"How did you know I loved curry? _Hehe._.."

Haruhi blinked. Breaking out into a large smile, her eyes crinkled as she gave out a short giggle. "You're weird." Despite the words, she didn't seem to mind.

While they were stunned, Haruhi took that opportunity to order them food and plain water to go with it. The waiter didn't even look surprised at his clientele and only served them professionally before hurrying on to another table. For that, if nothing else, Haruhi hoped he got a raise from the restaurant. He clearly deserved it.

Smothering another yawn, she watched with bemusement as the three males blinked to life again. Their eyes dropped to their plates. Slowly, almost painfully so, their expressions cleared up. Haruhi only shook her head, blowing lightly on her spoon and began munching on the rice. If it was something that she could depend on, then the appetite of the yakuza would be it.

Small talk was practically nonexistent between the four of them, considering it was the blunt Haruhi, socially awkward Ritsu and the two too subdued subordinates sharing a table, but small smattering of words did occur.

"This is good," Haruhi mused.

"Agreed!" Tatsu blurted.

"MHM!" The other one nodded frantically.

Ritsu made a grunt, looking terribly pleased.

Haruhi narrowed her eyes. Casually, she started, "The weather is terrible."

"Awful!" Tatsu agreed.

"The worst, Nee-san."

Ritsu glanced to the sunny sky and then to her, grimacing lightly and shrugging.

She resisted sighing with the practice several months gave her and instead took a deep breath. They were probably tired and hungry, Haruhi reminded herself. She was too, so she couldn't blame them really. She would at least know for future reference how two hours of sleep affected her. Not too bad, since she did manage a school day, but it was enough that her energy was practically gone.

Swallowing another mouthful of food, she fished around for a conversation starter. Her classmates always talked about it, so... "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

He startled with a, "_Hrnh_?!" It seemed to be his standard answer to anything that required his attention.

"Everyone has something they want to be," she explained reasonably. "My dad changed his profession late, but he's working at what he want to be currently."

"O-oh," his shoulders raised and he looked away. "Good for him."

She smiled, "Yes. I'm proud of him." Her smile dropped and she raised an eyebrow, "But you haven't answered."

He fidgeted. "I.. don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"I've never actually thought about it, okay! So what do _you_ want to be?" Ritsu scowled, a faint blush dusting his cheeks. He crossed his arms in defense.

"A lawyer," she responded immediately.

Their assigned bodyguards, who had up to this point been listening quietly in fond silence, both promptly choked on their drinks and began coughing. "A lawyer?" The one with sunglasses wheezed out. "You want to be a lawyer?"

"A _lawyer_?!" Tatsu echoed.

"Well..." She mused, looking at their stunned expressions with bemusement. "A lawyer, attorney, advocate; something like that. I won't choose a direction until a few years yet."

"Ritsu-sama is friends with a future lawyer," they continued to wheeze. "A _lawyer_."

It took a while for them to get over their shock. Haruhi gave them mildly concerned looks in the meantime, but Tatsu finally recovered enough to turn to her. "You don't mean a lawyer in the strictest of terms, right? A law abiding person obliged to report crimes and..." He trailed off at her serious expression.

"Yes."

She didn't elaborate, didn't sooth their worries that she would just as soon abandon her father than put her friend in prison, and only stated that simple answer. To her, it was too obvious.

The rest of the dinner was spent in silence. Haruhi was oblivious to the meaning while Ritsu glowered awkwardly into his food. Doubt swirled around in his head, all the lectures he had gotten about how to properly behave and his father's numerous warnings about civilians and law enforcement coming to the forefront. He didn't even look up when she put her share of the money on the table. He poked his food instead.

"Sorry, but I have to cut this short. We'll see each other tomorrow, okay?"

The parting shot from Haruhi made the dark thoughts instantly vanish for him. Warmth flushed through him and he brightened, an interesting mix of a scowl and a smile, before promptly nodding. "Tomorrow!" He promised.

The two subordinates shared a long look.

* * *

"Oh if it isn't dear little Haruhi-chan!"

She blinked drowsily. It took a moment to place that voice with the man who stood cooing over her. A faint image of pink eyelashes and a sparkly dress came to mind. "... Haruhi-san?"

He grinned. "You remembered!" The man who had the same name as her spread his arms, showing off the sleek costume he wore. "Don't I look mighty fine in whatever I am in? I guess it's just the wonders of being an Okama, ne?" He winked.

She nodded. "Getting home from work?" She asked politely.

"Yeah finally. Your old man still has some hours left, doesn't he? Not that I don't appreciate a cute face, but why are you here?"

She brought up the bag she held for him to see. "Bento," she said simply.

"Oh that man! I'm so jealous. Can't I take you home with me? Pretty please? I'll feed you with ice cream and you can give me bentos in return."

"I... I don't think that's how it works." She looked doubtful. "If dad doesn't object, you can come over for dinner sometime though," she offered.

"Really? I would love that!" He gushed. Taking stock of where he stood, he chuckled self-consciously and took a step to the side on the stairway. "Sorry, I shouldn't be in the way. I'll tackle your father later for that dinner." He grinned, making an extravagant bow. "Have a nice day, Haruhi-chan."

She smiled back. "You too, Haruhi-san."

Making her way inside the dimly lit host bar, she greeted the bartender and handed him the bag with her father's bento. While Haruhi could probably find her father if she only looked, she didn't want to bother him. Especially when he was working. So she dropped it off and got a promise that he would get it. Not wanting to be exposed by the perfume longer than necessary, she headed out immediately after and walked home again.

While it was autumn, the nights outside wasn't that dark yet. A warm glow of orange colored the sky and illuminated the streets. It was a nice day to be out. This was partly why Haruhi had decided to make a bento, but mostly so that she wouldn't fall asleep too early.

She smothered another yawn into her sleeve.

It was interesting, in a sort of vague having-nothing-better-to-do way, to see how the large skyscrapers drastically dropped in floors the longer she walked home. Halfway there, the buildings had become mostly tightly knitted residential with food markets and restaurants nestled within. It was at this point that she knew turning left would take her to Ritsu's compound with it's traditional houses and parks. However, going home was turning to the right –

Haruhi stopped, bewildered.

A suspiciously shiny black car stood parked to the side, two voices loudly arguing next to it. What made her stop was the familiar one raised in anger. "–an't believe you would do something so stupid! You rusted nail, son of demented a goat! Don't you understand what you just did?!"

"I understand plenty!" The other voice barked. She peered around the car, watching as the two stood nose to nose with each other. "You think I'm a disgrace to the family, don't'ya? But you couldn't be more wrong! It's YOU that's a–" His mouth suddenly clamped shut and he met her gaze head-on. She startled. Baring his teeth, he hissed, "Run along little girl. This is none of your business."

The other person turned his head. "Wha– Nee-san?!" He burst out. "What are you doing here?"

Haruhi glanced around, noting that the entire street was empty. How hadn't she noticed that before? "Going home," she answered eventually, eyes coming back to them. She recognized the man that was gaping at her as one of the cooks in the Kasanoda compound. If she wasn't entirely mistaken, he was in charge of preparing the meat. It wasn't a hard guess to make considering his considerable size.

"'Nee-san'?" The other man repeated dubiously. He glanced at the cook and then to her, eyes narrowed. "She's with you, brother?"

The newly revealed brother didn't answer, staring stonily back.

A calculating expression changed the brother's face. Though they had the same nose, his form was all angles and sharpness, a great contrast to the burly square form of the cook. "She's pretty young though," he mused loudly. "Too young if she isn't a prodigy... perhaps Oyabun has found someone to sponsor? No... she's precious in another way... isn't she?"

The cook flinched. When the brother grinned, he snapped out, "Never you mind that." Turning to her, his eyes seemed to beg her for something. Desperation written loudly, his eyes flickered from her and to the other street.

She didn't need to be told twice.

Turning on her heel, she ran.

Hearing a loud shout, shoes skidding against pavement and heavy thuds, Haruhi only ran faster. Her heartbeat threatened to jump out of her chest as the adrenaline coursed through her body. Her previous drowsiness had been blown away like nothing.

"OI! GIRL!"

She made the mistake of looking back. A glimpse of the cook lying prone on the ground was the last thing she saw before something barreled into her from behind. Nearly losing her balance, she stumbled but was caught by a strong arm. In surprise, her breath escaped her and she gulped desperately. A hand clamped over her nose and mouth hindered her; the sharp smell of chemicals entering instead.

Sight fading, the slim form of the brother slowly approached her, a murmur of words she couldn't comprehend more than that they sounded panicked. Weakly, she tried kicking back, scratching at the hands holding her tightly. Her movements became slower and slower until she couldn't even keep her eyelids open.

Haruhi fell unconscious.

* * *

**A/N** If it's worth anything, I have the next chapter half-written already. Shouldn't take too long. I have had some personal problems (broken ankle, studies aborted and authoritative paperwork) that's been keeping me from writing. Hopefully, this chapter makes up for the wait even though it's a cliff-hanger! I'm escalating the tension after all. Hope you stick around for where this will lead and please don't hesitate to share your thoughts!

See you all at the next chapter!

Translation notes:

_seiza – _sitting with the legs folded underneath themselves

_スポーツの秋 – __supo-tsu no aki – _Autumn of Sports

_Shokudo – _a small restaurant around train stations which serve small affordable meals


	6. Chapter 6

****Summary:**** Basically, Haruhi comes into contact with the Yakuza at a young age, and all shall dread the days to come.

****Authors note:**** Myes, I can feel the love pouring from my readers. All the well wishes, congratulatory pats and curses about how evil I am – I'm basking in a pool with it, rolling around and cuddling. You're all invited! Clothes mandatory, no offense.

A quick cultural note: A sandal strap breaking is the equivalent of the western taboo of seeing a black cat walking across the street.

Enjoy the continuation!

* * *

o0o0o0o0o0o

Chapter 6

Haruhi came to with a foul taste in her mouth, bleary eyes trying to make sense of why her stomach was rebelling. Her head rolled to the side and she winced. What happened? Her entire body felt like the aftermath of a training session with Kasanoda senior.

She startled when she tried to scrub her eyes and realized she couldn't. Her arms were behind her, wrists bound together with something hard while her feet had gotten similar treatment. "What...?" She murmured.

She pulled at her arms but they were firmly stuck. The motion made her aware of the chair she sat on though and she frowned. Eyes casting about the room she was in, she saw a bookcase filled to bursting, a low table and several cushions spread around. Three more chairs were stacked in the corner besides the one she occupied. There was no window and not another soul to be seen. With the exception of the door, there seemed to be no exit.

"Are... they pulling a joke on me?" She asked, bemused. Haruhi could vaguely recall the cook, and then his brother? Was this their version of a friendly jostle? But no, he seemed genuinely upset the last she could... ugh. She grimaced and shook her head. Maybe her father's colleges was in on this? But they wouldn't... would they?

No, no, something else had happened.

Running, a hand pressed against her mouth and then black? Haruhi knew what happened but she had trouble connecting it with reality. Did someone really take her? Why?

"... _mistake of the_ … _should know better_... _on our asses_..."

She blinked. A voice was filtered through the door, seemingly coming closer until it opened with a clatter. A man stood in the doorway, looking triumphant as he waved to encompass her. Three other men was glimpsed behind him, all wearing form-fitting suits in various degrees of undress from a jacket slung over an arm to the shirt entirely unbuttoned. With a glint of a golden tooth, rough looking expressions and scars, they looked like the stereotypical yakuza. "See? Told ya she would be awake."

One of the men behind slapped a hand over his head. "Gee, we can see that mighty fine by ourselves."

They grumbled but filtered into the room. Only one of the men approached her where she sat, a familiar face squinting at her. His nose was crooked and had a hint of bruises around it, but other than that, Haruhi could definitely recognize him as the man she had been running from.

Alarmed, she shifted backwards.

He paused slightly at her reaction. An indecipherable look crossed his face before he tossed an irritated glare over his shoulder. He turned back to her, looking mollified at the '_tch_' he had received from one of the men. "Ah, little miss," the man adjusted his clothes and kneeled down in front of her, a lopsided grin as he said in a nasal voice, "don' you worry 'bout a thing. Just stay there, yeah?"

His grin was as sharp and threatening as that moment he spotted her in the street, but something about it was different. It might be that he had his nose broken, or maybe it was the faintly apologetic look he had when he glanced at her bound feet. In either case, her fear drained away at his earnest expression, leaving behind a kind of exhaustion that made her head lull to the side. She frowned at his words though. "Where else would I go?"

He chuckled, the crisp angles of his body softening. "That's the spirit!" He congratulated her. Giving her a thumbs up, he stood again and went over to his partners.

Her eyes lingered on his carefree form and realized, while watching him burst into laughter at a crude joke, that she could suddenly see the resemblance between him and the cook. As brothers, their bond extended beyond looks and went deeper. The way his grin was a bit lopsided, his eyebrow twitching before lashing out with a punch and the similar need to apologize without actually coming right out and saying it... Huh. Haruhi blinked. Those two really were similar.

* * *

Kasanoda senior leaned back, hands delicately cupping his tea and sipping lazily. The room he sat in was part of the inner sanctuary of the Kasanoda Syndicate. Somber men and notably one woman was sitting around the low table, pillows tucked underneath and one single light that illuminated the traditional room with its six tatami mats. Kasanoda senior's half-lidded eyes gazed around the room at the attentive subordinates gathered around the table, respectfully waiting for an answer. He let the bitter taste of green tea savor on his tongue for a moment. When he put the cup back down again, his eyes were sharp. "We must put more pressure on the district. They've been acting up a bit too much for my tastes."

"Yes, Oyabun!"

He fixed his accountant on his left side with a firm look. "Calculate the costs of increased presence at the western side." As if in passing, he added, "Don't forget to add any injuries, loss and police investigation."

"Yes, Oyabun," he replied, his chin tucking down in a clear telltale sign the numbers were already running through his head.

Kasanoda senior turned to his left, and the man nodded, fists tightening in aggrieve. "The problem with Hisuitatsu-gumi has only escalated." A wry turn of lips while his eyes remained cold. "They fancy themselves a rival to us with their small numbers."

He took another sip of his tea.

"Then we must soon act."

"Yes, Oyabun."

"Progress report on Kyoto?"

"They're in some heat from foreign parties, but they seem to have it contained for now."

"Good. I don't want it spilling over to us."

"Yes, Oyabun."

Draining his teacup, he rose fluidly from his seat and looked down at his kobun. They all looked back, a fierce sort of loyalty in every line of their body. He felt pride swell inside his chest at the sight. He let his lips tug up into a fierce grin to echo their sentimentality. This was turning out to be an auspicious year indeed.

He took one step forward, and a sharp _snap_ was heard, everyone freezing at the sound. Almost unwillingly, eyes traveled downwards to Kasanoda senior's shoes; a pair of sandals in high quality. It was custom ordered with attention to detail, high quality and... _And yet_, one of the sandals straps had broken. Color drained from his face while half of the gathered immediately clamored to assure him that the maker, his job, family, ancestors and descendants would all be hurt – but the door suddenly slamming open stopped them short.

One of the kobun that usually hung around the entrance was slumped against the doorway, breath heavy and face splotched with red. His eyes flickered around with apprehension.

"Why have you interrupted us?" He asked sharply.

The boy flinched but quickly straightened his spine and lifted his chin. "Oyabun! We have just received intel that Nee-san has been taken!"

A shocked murmur behind his back, and the sharp inhale of the only other Nee-san in attendance. She had been away on business and hadn't even seen Ritsu since he was four years old, so it was unlikely she knew about the odd addition to their family. Still. His expression darkened and he loomed over the boy. "Fujioka Haruhi." He stated. It wasn't a question.

He nodded rapidly in confirmation.

It was a frozen second as he let that information take. The girl had been seized? Perhaps it was a simple matter of misinformation – but no, they wouldn't jump to conclusions even if it was the treasured friend of his son. The more appropriate question would then be if she was kidnapped or actually _taken_? The small difference would determine his response.

Not bothering with his broken sandal, he simply stepped out of them both and left them there on the floor as he stormed out.

"_Where_?" He asked shortly. Teeth grinding, he forced himself to act rationally. The boy jumped up and rushed after him, two hurried steps to his one long stride. Pointing, he hurriedly spilled the name of the man that had come with the information and why he couldn't inform Kasanoda senior personally. He could see it for himself when the cook staggered into his path, a hand clutching his ribs and the mottled color of bruises on his face. Eyes that knew they had screwed up and was resigned to it looked into his.

"Oyabun," the man wheezed out.

Torn between squeezing every last drop of information he had or getting some privacy to maintain the mien of normalcy, he eventually settled on the latter. "Come." Kasanoda senior turned on his heel and guided him back to the meeting room, ignoring the wary and concerned looks they garnered. Herding the man inside with a curt nod, he paused outside the door. "Gather the men," he ordered softly. "Be prepared to act swiftly."

A rustle as they all bowed. "Yes, Oyabun!"

He closed the door. He calmly walked over to his seat and settled in front of his empty teacup. He fixed steely eyes at the cook.

"Explain what you mean."

He nodded, a tremble to him as he strained to sit still. If it was because his seniors sitting around the table was giving him their full attention or because he had broken something important was unclear. The room felt almost oppressive in its weight, leaning down on them all with breathless expectation. "Oyabun," he began, his words faint and tired. "Forty eight minutes ago I met Fujioka Haruhi with a member of the Hisuitatsu-gumi present. Considering the hour, I warned her that she should run to safety. She complied, there was a scuffle, I lost unconsciousness and when I woke up she was gone."

A murmur rippled though the seated. In contrast, Kasanoda felt like he had turned to stone. "Did you confirm if she had gotten home before you came here?"

"Yes. Although I thought it was unlikely, I checked both her father's workplace and her home. She wasn't in either of the places."

"Then –"

The door suddenly slammed open _again_, but instead of a harried boy with bad news, Ritsu stood there with a scowl so heavy several people closest to him actually jolted up in fright. "_Where is Haruhi_?! Is it true?!"

"Sit down!" He barked. Both his subordinates and his son slammed down, but the boy stubbornly never dropped that terrifying expression. Sighing, he rubbed his eyes. "Yes. It's true. We are going to do everything in our power to get her back if she truly is gone, so _sit down_."

Ritsu sat down again at the open doorway, rigid and obstinate at his denial of rushing out. Subordinates outside was smart enough to scram so they wouldn't be accused of listening in.

"Now, if there is no more interruptions." The glare he swept across the room firmly gave the answer for them. "Then I was going to say that it's unlike the Hisuitatsu-gumi to act up so strongly."

The man responsible for the area around the upstart small-time yakuza nodded in agreement. "They wouldn't do so unprovoked."

"... I was having an argument with my brother." The cook admitted. The seemingly non-sequitur got him a hard look and he grimaced, explaining haltingly, "He had... _joined_ them, Oyabun. He probably had a partner nearby. I was too careless, and they took the opportunity when they saw it. I might have hinted... that she was our Nee-san?" He winced.

A small strangled sound from the doorway, but Ritsu was quick to muffle it. "We have to save her. _We have to_!"

Kasanoda senior felt all of his years as he watched his son's terrifying expression crumble. How it must pain the boy. The idea that he might be the cause surely felt unbearable. It was heavy for him too, but he had years and years of experience to fall back on. His son didn't. Even so, he nodded grimly. It might not be cause for alarm, might only be a false alarm if she had managed to hide somewhere else, except he had a feeling it wasn't. She was in danger, and he was going to act accordingly. The fact that the Hisuitatsu-gumi was somehow involved only worsened the situation.

Grimly, he nodded to his son. "We will."

What horrors might she be experiencing?

* * *

After what felt like more than an hour sitting in the chair, Haruhi had learned that they had been tasked with the duty to guard her. Why exactly four people needed to guard an eight year old in the same room was anyone's guess. Maybe she should feel proud that they were wary of her? They looked just as bored as she was though. When the uncertainty of what they were going to do had left her, and they similarly had stopped glancing at her suspiciously, they were just stuck in a windowless room with nothing to do.

"AGH! Screw this!" One of the men burst out. He stomped over to the bookcase and carelessly grabbed a cup that rattled when he swung it, several papers fluttering down behind him as he slapped it down on the center of the table. He took off his tie and tossed it over his shoulder. "Let's play Chō-Han Bakuichi."

They all brightened. "Goo' idea!" The brother to the cook said. He took the cup and tipped it over his open palm, two dice rolling out. From where she sat, they looked to be normal with six sides and colored white. "How much are we bettin'?"

"I've got ten."

"Eleven."

The man with a clean shaven head rubbed his chin, grimacing. "Ugh, eight."

They burst into laughter. "Eight it is then." The four of them rifled through their pockets and each slapped down eight thousand yen onto the table. "So, are we gonna draw the short stick for the dealer?"

"Eh? But that means we're gonna be uneven."

"Nothin' for it. Not like we have someone that can join... us..." He trailed off. His eyes slanted towards her and she squirmed uncomfortably when the three other men followed his gaze.

"That's... actually a good idea."

"Hey! Wait!" The bald man protested when the brother approached Haruhi. "Is it safe? I mean, we were supposed to–"

"Shush," the cook's brother ordered gently. Squatting in front of her and freeing her limbs, his grin was cutting when he glanced back. "Shut your trap, yeah? Besides, don' worry. She's a good girl, yeah?" The last was directed to her, and she nodded obligingly. What could she do towards grownups anyway? Hug them to death?

He grumbled but leaned back in apparent agreement. "So girl, played the game before?"

Chō-Han Bakuichi? It sounded familiar; except why would she know a gambling game? Although if it was something popular among the yakuza, then that's probably the reason why... She shrugged. "No, I have never played it before."

The brother took her arm gently and led her towards the table. After sitting so long, her legs were a bit weak. Every time she wobbled, he steadied her without hesitation and when she glanced back, he didn't even seem bothered by it. "Sit here," he directed her towards the 'head' of the table. She had the wall behind her and two pairs of yakuza on either side of her. "The rules are simple. Since you're gonna be tha dealer, you'll have these," he pressed the cup and the two dice into her hand, "which you will shake and then tip over onto the table. Make sure we can't see the dice... and that's basically it for you."

One of the men added, "Chō stands for the even numbers and the Han stands for the uneven. After we've called either of them, you'll remove the cup to reveal the outcome. Got it?"

Haruhi stared blankly at the cup in her hand.

Was she really learning how to gamble? Wasn't it a bit concerning that adults were teaching this to a child?

Then again, she's been kidnapped and there's a lot worse things for the abducted to do. Betting money on dice was probably on the bottom list of offensive crimes to the police. And if she wasn't going to bet money _herself_, then it would be fine. Right?

She shrugged. Deciding to handle this with her usual aplomb, she looked back up again and raised an eyebrow. "Anything else I need to know?"

They grinned. Apparently she had touched upon a hot object, because they didn't pause before they enthusiastically began explaining the important role the dealer had. They had to shake the dice with _poise_, put it down with _grace_, have next to nothing or as minimal clothing as possible on their arms and upper body to negate _cheating_ because that's _bad_.

Haruhi barely resisted rolling her eyes.

They also told her stories of gambles they've been to. It started with someone claiming to have won fifty thousand yen in a single setting and somehow the stories only became more outrageous from there on. The bald man swore he had won the emperor's palace in a near whisper. The brother promised he had five Ferrari at home. With the way they were boasting, Haruhi was sure they each had won a continent to their name.

She eyed them with exasperation. _Yakuza boys_, she couldn't help but think. They were apparently the same in whatever age they were in.

Shifting on the pillow, hands still cradling the cup with the two dice, her attention wandered around the room. One of the yakuza on her right side was imperiously telling them about a game that involved the Oyabun from a competing yakuza and the king of Italy... though she wasn't really sure. She had stopped listening after the mention of Ferrari.

The papers strewn about the floor caught her attention. It was clearly not written in Japanese, the characters consisting solely of horizontal and vertical lines. But there were also letters that looked distinctly like dots and curved lines, like they had blended English and something else. "Might be Mongolian," she mused. There had been plenty of examples of that in the 'Origin of Japanese' books she had borrowed. That homework was seemingly going to haunt her forever if she could imagine a mix of Mongolian, old Korean and ancient wet rice farmer characters in one text.

"How did you...?!"

She turned to see the four of them staring at her open-mouthed. "... Sorry?" She frowned. "Did I say something wrong?"

They shared a glance.

The bald man eventually cleared his throat awkwardly, taking his jacket off and strategically placing it above the fallen papers. Haruhi's eyes lingered at it in bemusement. Was that something she wasn't supposed to see? Then why was it in the same room as her? Honestly, even Haruhi knew enough basic protocol about sensitive information to know not to leave it out.

"You should probably fix that," she informed them lightly. They shared another glance as if she had told them she knew where their mailbox lived. They looked suddenly uneasy, shifting in their seats and tugging at their collars. "I mean," she continued in concern, "anyone could tell that was a mishmash of languages rooting back centuries."

"Ah," said the brother. He gave a smile that looked utterly fake in contrast to his usual grins. "Really? Anyone?"

Was he embarrassed? Haruhi tilted her head. "I can give you a list of," she paused, trying to find the right word, "a list of _references_, if you want?"

If anything, his smile became even more fake while the three others tensed. "That won' be necessary, thank you."

Haruhi watched him in suspicion. After a few seconds, she shrugged and decided to drop it. If her kidnappers wanted a secret, who was she to unearth it? "Alright." She turned to the whole table. "Did you guys want to play Chō-Han Bakuichi?"

While she didn't much care for their earlier boasting, she had at least listened to their points about what a dealers should do. So she shrugged off her jacket and rolled up her sleeves to show she didn't have any extra dice on her. Then she quite clearly showed the two dice to the four men in one hand, and the empty cup in the other. Furrowing her brow, she tipped the dice in and began shaking. She didn't know how long she was supposed to be doing that, so she silently counted to ten before slamming it down on the table, triumphantly looking up again.

They stared back at her in bemusement.

"You're, err, taking this quite seriously."

She blinked up at him. "Of course. This is something precious to you, isn't it?" If Ritsu was half as wordy as they were, then she was sure that he would have talked her ear off just as much concerning kenjutsu. She recognized that glint in their eyes after all. It was what spurned her onto accepting Kasanoda senior's offer of training. If she didn't know it would make Ritsu so happy, she would never have done it.

The same principle applied here. She would never involve herself with gambling if it didn't make her kidnappers happy. That was a reasonable way of looking at things. Probably.

She ignored them sharing glances again and instead waited for them to call out even or odd numbers. If nothing else, this could be called extracurricular mathematics. It would be fun.

She eyed them slapping down money, loudly stating their guess and then bemoaning life when they got it wrong. The money was split and fists were thrown, but she handled her part of shaking the dice amiably.

Fun? Probably.

* * *

The silence was stifling in the small room. From outside, the sounds of several sets of feet running by could be heard, but it was nothing that couldn't be swallowed by the anger that was brewing inside. Sharp eyes was narrowed onto the kneeling form in front of him, the man entirely lowered so that he was pressed against the floor. The respect shown mollified him, but it wasn't enough.

The cook had failed. He had lost towards his own brother who had chosen an entirely different path. His family's failures was reflected on the cook together with the loss of Fujioka Haruhi. He had failed her most of all.

The pause stretched on while the Oyabun pursed his mouth and let the man sweat. Eventually, at an unseen signal his right man made with the barest shift of his feet, the cook looked up. Deep bruises lined under his eyes, a faint tremble to his shoulders as he wheezed out a breath. He offered a small box to them, one hand bandaged with spotty flecks of red, and the other clenched in deep determination. The cook held that position for a long while, eyes submissive and directed downwards, arms twitching from the strain of holding the box out.

The silence was stifling, the sounds of subordinates gearing up for the personal insult towards one of their own frantic with a controlled undertone of anger, but it was easily drowned out by the heaviness of what had been offered.

He narrowed his eyes, weighing the price given to the failure made.

Was it forgivable?

Yes. For her sake.

He gave a sharp nod at last.

* * *

Their game of four had somehow lured in _everyone_ in the building. The room was crowded despite the occupants having only been increased by sixteen. Apparently, though they never came out and forthright told her, they were a small yakuza family. By their puffed chests and loopy grins, Haruhi could assume they were proud of it nevertheless.

Also, and this was obvious by her current predicament, they loved to gamble.

Her stumbling hands becoming more deft the longer the game went as she doled out dice after dice. Cries of "Chō!" were interspersed with "Han!" while they bet among themselves for the the correct number underneath the upside down cup. She entertained herself by idly counting the bets that were exchanging hands rapidly just to stay true to her promise that this was a innocent mathematical test and not actually an odd kidnapping.

Haruhi still couldn't wrap her head around it. Why would they kidnap her? Because she had seen an altercation between brothers? Or maybe it was a case of wrong place and wrong time? It's not like they were actually harming her or anything. She might argue that underage betting would be damaging, but her continued friendship with Kasanoda Ritsu kinda shot that down. Then why?

She frowned.

"So," she began musingly, and hands stilled from where they had been collecting money, "why was I kidnapped?"

No one answered.

Her eyes tried to connect with those near to her, but they refused to even turn their head. "I mean," Haruhi continued delicately, unsure of the protocol someone kidnapped should use, "it hasn't been that bad, but I would like to go home. There's no reason for me to be here."

Again, no one answered. Rather, the original small group of four yakuza all turned as one to stare at the bald man. He huffed and folded his arms silently. The look he gave was narrowed and filled with righteous indignation, as if daring them to contradict him. Almost instinctively, her eyes fell to his hands. They were rough, large, and she could easily imagine them held against her mouth. Their eyes met for a fleeting second before he looked sharply away.

"Oh," she said, because, _oh_, it had been him. She felt oddly betrayed at the confirmation.

"Girl," the brother began, and she glanced over while he hesitated briefly, "I – don' worry," he repeated.

Haruhi wasn't worried. She was exhausted and tense, but she wasn't worried. She only nodded and pretended to drop that line of conversation. There really was no need to take away the good mood for something so small. "It's alright," she said instead. And then she closed her eyes and mustered up that smile that her father absolutely loved to see, hoping that it would be enough.

When she looked back up again, most were either glaring at the bald man or eyeing her unnervingly closely.

She decided not to voice her question and simply began shaking the dice again, sufficiently distracting most of them. The people that were at the end of the room huddled together though, angling their heads so she couldn't see their no-doubt moving lips. What was the need for secret whispers if she could tell they were whispering?

While she shook the dice theatrically, taking special care in showing her bare forearms, she fixed her eyes on them and didn't bother to hide it. Their heads were ducked while they wildly gesticulated, one of them even drawing his hand sharply against his throat while gulping. The other one leered in response, mumbling something that made them glance at her again. She offered them a small smile and a raised eyebrow.

Their heads whipped back so fast she was sure something had cracked.

"_Look_," she heard one of them hiss, "... _can't_... _undercover_... _unreal_."

Bemused, she shook her head. That didn't even make sense. What were they talking about?

She inwardly shrugged, slamming the cup down and then looking back up in expectation. The last three times had the dice come out uneven, so she guessed that the majority would definitely choose even numbers. The cries for _Chō_ never came though.

One of the men had his hand raised, beckoning for silence. "Girl," he began, and she nearly rolled her eyes at the continued use of that denotation, "I want to ask a few questions." He paused, slanting shrewd eyes at her. "Will you answer honestly?"

The odd choice of words boggled her, but she shrugged. "Alright."

He inclined his head. "Are you associated with the Kasanoda Syndicate?"

"Yes?" Haruhi frowned. That was the name of Ritsu's compound. But in that vein of thought, she's just as associated with her father's job, her school and the local mall. She shrugged. "Among others."

A murmur rippled through the small room, but the man waited it out silently, staring at her all the while.

She stared back.

"Thank you," he said eventually. His expression showed nothing more than a slight pinch. "Are you aware of a room in their Syndicate's halls that is decorated with..." He paused again, and several yakuza shivered in pained remembrance, "... cranes and their emblem held in its beak?"

She tilted her head, considering. "I don't... Do you mean the cranes on the ceiling?" She thought about the room she had extensively cleaned, grimacing a little in remembrance of how long it had taken to scrub every last bit of dirt away. "There is also a moon overlooking a red bridge on the bearing wall," she pointed out, since that had been the spot she had started at, "but yes, I know that room."

The man's eyes actually widened before he tampered the reaction down. Gasps could still be heard from several of the surrounding yakuza.

"I see, I see," he said faintly. "Then, please answer me this last question; Who are you to them?"

That stumped her.

To Ritsu, she was definitely a friend. To his father? A child, probably, that hung around his son. Apparently she was a sister to many of the residents, except she had no idea how that worked. To the cooks, she was a small helper that could assist them in easy recipes when the ingredients waned. Generally, Haruhi felt like she just _was_. There was no need do define everything in life. Sometimes, people could be both and nothing at the same time, like her father's coworkers that were both women and men, gentle and loud... It's small things, but she's learned to appreciate them all the same.

"Does it matter?" She sighed. Her shoulders slumped and she peered up at him from under her hair. "I like them. That should be enough."

* * *

This would be a clash of titans.

While the Hitsuitatsu-gumi was small, they had allies that would all crack down on the Kasanoda if they learned what was to occur. If need be, they would also pull on their own allies, but that was a scenario best left in the ground. It would not be pretty. They would do it though, if it was needed.

They had all rallied, fully prepared to meet any resistance on their way. A group had veered off early to make sure no law enforcement got involved while another group had already made their way over to the street they knew the despicable yakuza resided in as a courtesy to the civilians nearby. Anyone that clamped their eyes on that car and saw them lounging threateningly in front would do a one-eighty immediately.

Kasanoda senior was grim when he exited the car. He had always known something would have to be done about the competing yakuza group located so close by. They had slipped by their net of control, and when they finally realized what had happened beneath their noses, the group had already been well established enough that they had to continue to turn a blind eye. It had vexed him though.

In hindsight, he wished he had showed no mercy.

The following altercation could only go two ways. Either blood would be spilled or _blood would be spilled_. Kasanoda senior didn't feel all that forgiving, his quota already filled up for the day, and he wasn't afraid of showing it.

His eyes zeroed in on the entrance to the small apartment building with distaste. They had no doubt torn down selected walls to make it bigger, and from the look of the firmly bolted shut doors on either end, they had also made new walls as was befitting of a 'homebase'.

That was going to change.

He made a sharp gesture to the men that had come with him, at least forty in numbers, and prepared to –

Wait.

The door opened and out wandered –

What.

Haruhi caught sight of him and brightened, waving from the doorway. He waved numbly back. She looked behind her and nodded, stepping out at the same time with the Oyabun of Hitsuitatsu-gumi. Several of his yakuza could be spotted behind, only a half step from the man. His blood surged and he gritted his teeth, glaring at them. Were those lowlifes really going to threaten them into compliance? Holding her hostage, how low could they get?

She glanced back at him, staring for a moment before she turned to the other Oyabun. They seemed to exchange a few words, the man nodding while Kasanoda senior was forced to watch the bastards when –

Haruhi went over to him. Just like that. No threats, force or duress propelled her, only the wary eyes of the other yakuza. He barely noticed them with how fixed he was at the girl. Was she really...?

When she was finally over the halfway point, his yakuza surged in on her and tucked her tight against them, rapidly pushing her closer to him. He immediately moved toward her, hand cupping her cheeks as he peered into her eyes. "Are you alright?" He struggled with his calm expression, but he knew she could hear the worry underneath. She always had a tendency to skip facades entirely. "Are you hurt anywhere? Just give me the word and I will –"

Haruhi squirmed, but it only mushed her cheeks closer, much to her annoyance. "I'm fine," she muttered as loudly as she could to the fretting yakuza Oyabun.

He frowned darkly, leaning back and pinching her cheek. She yelped. "Then how dare you run out! I should just..." He trailed off, eyes widening in realization. "Did you say that you were fine?"

She squirmed again, but he didn't let go of her rapidly reddening cheek. "I _was_ fine. Now? Not so much if you continue to pinch me! Let me go," she whined.

He leaned in again, staring deeply into her eyes as he returned to cupping her cheeks. Haruhi allowed this with the knowledge that it was much more preferable than to the other state. "How could this be?" He murmured. "What a wonderful child I have underneath my nose. To think that she would live... _How did you do it_?" He commanded in a sharp tone. "Tell me."

She sighed in exasperation. "I talked, like usual. He was pretty nice and agreed to let me go at the misunderstanding. I think he wants to talk to you? I don't know, he said he would be 'agreeable to a settlement between us two'." She rolled her eyes, clearly quoting something. "He's waiting over there for you to decide."

His hands tightened briefly, only loosening again when she grimaced in discomfort. His head turned jerkily towards the aforementioned Oyabun. The man looked thoughtful and in a little bit of awe towards the girl he held, but he nodded when he saw Kasanoda senior. He really did mean it.

He looked back down at her. He wasn't the only one; everyone who had heard her was staring at the young girl, completely stunned. What she was describing sounded like a fantasy. The two families had been rivals for a very long time, and then she came along, got kidnapped, and simply walked out unharmed with the explanation that it had been a misunderstanding?

Does this girl even know how incredible she was?

"Can I go home now?" She asked quietly, large brown eyes peering up.

He nodded unconsciously, only knowing what he was doing when he had already called for one of the drivers. He hesitated then. "... Take her to Ritsu. They're going to have another sleepover."

It looked like she was going to protest at first, but in the end, she only sighed and nodded against the palm of his hand. He smiled, patting her cheek, and watched her being led to the car.

When she was out of sight, the sleek and black car rounding the street corner, he dropped his smile. His shoulders firmed and his eyes lost any hint of warmness. When he turned sharply, the other Oyabun met his eyes calmly. His smile was vacant, more of a grimace than any happiness. "Before we begin," he said, and Kasanoda senior's stare got flinty, "I must ask. Where the hell did you find that girl?"

The yakuza behind him murmured an agreement, most of them with their eyes still fixed on that street corner.

Again, twice in the same hour, he became surprised.

"I know she must be heavily trained in infiltration or worse," he continued grimly, and Kasanoda senior barely withheld the incredulous staring. "She's charmed all of my subordinates over one _night_ so don't even think about denying it. Approaching targets so easily, handling infiltration... Trained to kill at point-blank range, isn't she? No wonder she got kidnapped as so short amount of time." It looked like the man was on a roll, because he began walking circles in confused wonderment. "But then the question would be why she left so freely. Maybe she read the papers, _that was coded mind you_, and decided that we weren't worth it? The men nearly had heart attacks when she smiled at them! She just too damn _nice_." Breathing heavily, he turned towards him again with a heavy frown. "Where on earth did you find her?"

He couldn't withhold it any longer.

He burst out laughing. "She came to us on a rainy day," he admitted with a loopsided grin. The answering grumble made him smile again with entirely too much teeth. "Well then, you wanted to negotiate? Let's hear it."

* * *

Changed into borrowed clothes and tucked underneath the covers, she squeezed her eyes shut and tried to forget about the day. Even with the darkness in the room and the familiar scent of newly washed detergent enveloping her, the day's events continuously played behind her eyelids. Haruhi was exhausted though, and she wanted it to _stop._

She could almost imagine feeling Ritsu's stare as a tangible object that was poking her cheek. His futon was beside hers so she wouldn't be surprised at all if he was still awake. She sighed. He hadn't said anything, only hugged her tightly upon her return and backed off quickly when she squirmed. His silent support actually comforted her greatly. Perhaps a bit more than she was willing to admit.

Kidnapping was nothing. Easily handled and not a scar to be seen from the whole ordeal. She could handle it, no use worrying anyone.

But...

The night was reassuring in that no one could see her wobble. No judgment to be made, only silent confessions and dreams exploring a person's wishes.

She took a deep breath.

"I was scared," she admitted quietly to Ritsu in the dark.

He fumbles around, and she could feel him coming closer. Her covers lift slightly and he finds her hand, small fingers squeezing it. "I will protect you," he promised in return. "I swear it."

Haruhi frowned, absently tightening her hand against his. "I don't want to trouble anyone. I can handle it myself, you know."

The words linger in the air before she could hear his head move up and down against his pillow. He sounded certain, not a trace of nervousness when he declares, "I believe you."

She fell asleep with a smile, her hand entwined with his.

* * *

**A/N** So. Satisfying end to the chapter? I hope you liked it! Any thoughts would be as well received as always, of course. The part when the box was offered won't hopefully be explained, but if you didn't understand it, just search a little about yakuza culture. If nothing else, it will be an interesting read.

The next chapter _might_, if I find the time, be up before New Year's, but I don't believe so. Until then, I wish you all a Happy Holidays! Stay safe, warm and bright.

See you all at the next update!


	7. Chapter 7

****Summary:**** Basically, Haruhi comes into contact with the Yakuza at a young age, and all shall dread the days to come.

****Authors note:**** This story has garnered quite some love from my first update, and I'm so happy about that! I love this series, and I love that the fandom seems just as generous. As a Valentine gift for you all, an update with another canon character. The first (pre-)Ouran Host Club person! Look forward to it!

Enjoy!

* * *

o0o0o0o0o0o

Chapter 7

Back into her own clothes bright and early, Tatsuki had been nice enough to offer her a drive home. Thankfully enough, for her peace of mind if nothing else, the limousine had been left back at the compound.

She yawned, blearily watching the houses sweep past them through the window.

"Nee-san, will you be alright from here?" The car came to a stop, and he glanced at her from over his shoulder. She was about a street away from home, so it wasn't really a bother at all. Haruhi might as well have walked home from the compound anyway. It wasn't that long. Considering the circumstance behind her sleepover, she wasn't surprised they had been insistent on going with her.

It really wasn't necessary though.

"Yes," she nodded. "Thank you."

He dipped his head. "No problem, Nee-san."

She paused at the name, offering him a strange look before shaking her head and deciding to ignore it. Haruhi was going to have a _word_ with them about that nickname. Later. For now, ignoring any sort of name calling was likely the correct decision. Father always told her boys meant everything in the most affectionate manner if they annoyed her, and since men were grownup boys, including her father who was annoying in the most fond ways, the allegory stands.

The walk to her home was thankfully short despite the pitiful face the driver had when he drove past her. Squeezing between two houses for a shortcut to their stairway, she trudged up and knocked politely on their door. Her keys were in her pocket, but if she knew her father's schedule right, he was going to be at home anyway.

As if hearing her thoughts, the door opened and she saw the wide-eye stare of Ranka.

He looked... not right. The meticulously cut chin showed signs of a beard, his eyes red rimmed and mouth pursed. Haruhi was hit by a sudden sense of home-sickness, not one unlike she just to have at five, and the breath left her.

Unconsciously, her arms lifted.

He immediately swooped down. "I was so worried!" He engulfed her in a hug, holding her tightly with trembling fingers. He breathed out shakily. "Please don't scare daddy like that again! I thought something awful had happened to you! If it wasn't for the nice police officers, I would have worried myself sick."

She blinked.

Peering over his shoulder, she saw the aforementioned police officers shifting slightly on the spot. Haruhi narrowed her eyes. She could quite clearly remember at least one of them being present at dinner times at the Kasanoda kitchen. He had guffawed when she told him that she could braid him a wreath of flowers' when he had loudly lamented about not being able to 'pick any flowers'. The room had been stunned, and in the ensuing silence he had grinned and began cuddling her playfully, cheerfully saying, "You're a mite bit too young, but I thank you kindly for the offer Nee-san!"

She narrowed her eyes even more at the man. A flicker of a smile, but he tamped it down by tilting his blue cap down. "Miss," he said stoically.

"... Dad," she eventually squeezed back, patting his back in vague comfort. "What, exactly, did the nice officers say?"

"Hm?" He loosened his hold enough that he could look tearfully down. "You got lost in the big city, didn't you? Young girl, I don't want you wandering around so late at night alone ever again!" His scolding then turned consoling in the next heartbeat as he said gently, "I understand if you're embarrassed. Just don't do it again, okay?"

She nodded, dumbfounded.

Back to hugging him and petting his hair, she looked towards the 'police' again. That man once more couldn't quite hide the flicker of a smile when she met his eyes. The other adult wasn't recognizable, so maybe that was why he could nod cordially back. Haruhi stared intensely at them. Were they even real police? Or was this Ritsu's subordinates in costume?

Would they tell her if she asked?

After a moment longer, she slumped her shoulders. It simply wasn't worth the effort. She was safe at home again and she had school tomorrow. Catching both of their attention, she mimicked zipping her mouth and throwing away the key. Haruhi would live happy knowing this whole debacle was never spoken of, and even then, it would be too soon. She was momentarily confused at the red that flushed across their skin. But they quickly nodded in comply, bowing respectfully and making their way towards their car, murmuring goodbyes to her father.

"I won't worry you again," she promised. Burrowing her head into his long hair, he held her tighter in answer. "Sorry."

"Just, please, be careful."

She nodded slightly. She would try.

* * *

After the whole kidnapping event, things really didn't change that much Haruhi realized. She continued going to school, berating the lone yakuza or two that itched to escort her to the compound, had a study session with Ritsu once every week and made bento for her father to eat at work.

She was relieved that she could put that whole day behind her.

Ritsu had confessed in a whisper, after a long study session and the stars peeking out from the cover of the clouds, that the people that had kidnapped her had been _swallowed._ They had been simple upstarts, he had explained with some smugness, so it was only a matter of time before they were either destroyed or forced to converge with someone else. Though she never saw them in the compound, they had apparently joined under Kasanoda senior's yakuza. Relocated to the fringes of the city and kept under watch as they worked hard under the Kasanoda rule.

The Oyabun of the former rule, however, had managed to bow out of working there. "He had a sudden change of heart on what he wanted to do," Ritsu said, an odd side-glance to her that she didn't understand the meaning of. "Information network and the like."

An undercover spy, basically, though she had no idea what inspired the urge to alter tracts.

Whatever floated his boat, she supposed.

One thing that was a direct consequence from the kidnapping was the increased training. Ritsu's father had invited her over to quite a few lessons and he wouldn't take no for an answer. While she was still bad at anything sword-like and really didn't see the reason why she should learn that thing anyway, she instead learned do duck and roll in the spars they made her participate in. Oddly enough, the person she could have sworn was the same man in a police uniform was pretty shameless in his inclusion of her training. "We'll make a man out of you yet," he said cheekily, an arm flung over her shoulder and she huffed in irritation. Instead of manning her up, like they said, they should have gone to the police if they were so worried.

Or if not that, why not do the reasonable thing and offer her protection like any decent human being? Why not increase her not-so-stealthy bodyguards when she was in their territory?

But no. Manning her up it was.

Haruhi couldn't begrudge them though. In their own way, they looked worried, so she consented to days feeling more than a little battered and bruised just to make them smile in happiness again.

Before she knew it, the end of school exams had come and gone and Christmas had arrived. She received a lot of elbow jabs and eyebrow wriggles as the yakuza loudly declared they wanted to spend the day with their sister. It was a bit of a spectacle with everyone competing who could say it more dramatically. It really didn't matter to Haruhi since she was going to spend it at home with her father, but it was fun to see them break out into cheers or hoots depending on if the 'invitation' failed to rouse the crowd or not.

Ritsu alternatively glowered beside her or stared holes into different walls while trying to contain his snickers.

Well. She always knew they were insane, so nothing more to that.

New Year and her own birthday in February both flew past in startling speed. She spent most of her vacation with her father at his work much to the bemusement of Haru-san and the other employees. She liked them well enough... but she could have done without the make-up days where they gushed over if she was better suited for cobalt or marine, or perhaps even _navy_? To say Haruhi was nonplussed by the whole thing would be an underestimation.

At any rate, thanks to them she learned of her complete disinterest with dressing up. It was nothing new to either Ranka or Ritsu, considering one lived with her and the other had thought she was a boy at first.

Her femininity didn't magically increase when she turned nine years old. Looking into her mirror, she looked exactly the same from the day before. Her hair had grown since last year, and she had to buy new clothes because her height seemed to increase, but nothing else otherwise. School had gotten tougher though. And an odd rumor was spreading around about her being some sort of yakuza heir or some nonsense like that. That was _Ritsu_, not her. She was only a friend.

As the weeks went by, so did her determination to succeed as a lawyer. Between school, going to the market, visiting her friend, making dinner, hanging around her father's workplace for a few hours and anything else that popped up like cleaning and doing the bills, Haruhi also went to the library as often as she could. She borrowed books and planted her nose firmly in them, trying to memorize as much as possible. She wanted her options open to her when she finally choose what direction she wanted to go.

It was on one sunny day in August when she was sitting in a corner of the training room, barely glancing at Ritsu's sweating form while she skimmed through the statute book in a desire to get a thorough overlook of it that Kasanoda senior got curious enough to approach. He peered at the text, nose faintly wrinkled at the small print. "What are you reading? The law book?" He joked.

She folded her legs, allowing him to see the binding that proclaimed it to be so. Turning a page and ignoring him choking on spittle, she hummed a little. "Yea."

"_Why_?"

Haruhi glanced up before returning to the tiny text about Consumer Contract Act. "I want to become a lawyer."

He stared at her. Behind him, Ritsu slowed down in confusion but he made a sharp gesture and he continued like normal. "I heard." He paused and she turned a page. "I assumed you weren't serious."

"Of course I was serious."

"Haruhi-chan," he bent down, tapping the book and forcing her look up again with a small frown. "I don't think you need to know _everything_. What do you want to specialize in? Marriage? Personal contracts?"

"But I _want_ to know everything," she protested. She grimaced and he chuckled at the expression. "I like to keep my options open."

He looked at the law book, a little befuddled. "I can see that."

Harrumphing, she pulled her knees to her chest again so she could rest the book comfortably on them. He stared at her for a moment longer before returning to his son. She thought it would be the last she heard from him about that, but the next week when she visited again for a study session, she was instead met with a man in a sleek suit at the door. His hair looked like salt and pepper, and the wrinkles around his eyes belayed how old he was. Tucking his chin in and peering down at her, he nodded at last.

"You will do," he announced.

Introducing himself as Kanda Yoshiteru, the Kasanoda lawyer, he asked if she wanted to follow him when he worked sometimes.

She said yes in a heartbeat.

Although he didn't explicitly say so, it was implied that he mostly dealt with yakuza matters. Cleaning up their messes, butting heads with police and getting them out from jail – being him apparently meant that having a small mastery in everything was par for the course. She only got a day every month with him, but she loved every second of it. He didn't have an office like her mother had since he usually traveled around and slept at the compound when time allowed him. Kanda had several other lawyers working with him, of course. Almost like the cooks, she quickly grew popular for the simple reason that she soaked up all knowledge they gave like a small, cute and wide-eyed mushroom.

Ritsu was very happy for her, and she in turn was happy for him with how his own studies was progressing. He learned all about leadership while also managing a school, training and setting aside time for her. They were all very busy, but they made it work.

Considering this, Ranka himself was surprised it took him a whole year before he clued in that he should perhaps meet this boy that stole so much of her attention. He had followed her stealthily a few times... only to hit a dead-end when she was more often than not picked up by a car.

He firmly refused to believe his eyes and think that Haruhi had gotten into the wrong crowd, so he took a day off and asked his daughter to introduce them.

She was understandably nervous about this.

Kasanoda senior only grinned and welcomed them over for dinner. A rambunctious, guffawing and crude jokes sort of dinner.

Ranka was smiling the entire time, laughing and making jokes expertly in a manner befitting a host. He slotted himself neatly there like it was nothing and Haruhi was relieved that the meeting went peacefully enough. Could have been worse after all. He didn't bring the photo album.

It was only when her father had closed their door behind them that she knew she was wrong.

The smile was dropped and he turned, staring at her. His eyes were a bit glazed. "Haruhi?" He said faintly.

She winced, seeing the question clear as day. "Yes," she admitted. "They're yakuza."

"You're _friends_ with someone from–" he started, then stopped abruptly. "You can't– They're not –" Ranka stopped again. Then, after swallowing, he started faintly, "You like them, don't you?"

Haruhi could feel the warm smile creeping onto her face despite the worry she felt for her father. Nodding, she shamelessly admitted, "I do."

"Oh."

"I know they're not commonly seen like that, but they're really kind and funny and," Haruhi's gaze shifted to the floor, "they're my friends."

Family, perhaps even, though it would be unfair to sling that word to her father.

"Oh," he repeated.

She squirmed silently. Her toes wiggled on the tiled floor.

"I guess that's happening then," he said at last. She looked up, and his smile was back, but it was smaller and much more genuine. He enveloped her in a hug. Her rigid unmoving form pressed against his shirt. "That's nice to hear. Really, really nice. Remind me to thank them sometime. I thought – I'm happy you have someone that can look after you."

Haruhi closed her eyes. Biting her lip, she gave one sharp nod before pressing herself closer to him.

She was also happy for that.

They hugged a moment longer before she began squirming, and he let her go. She padded into the kitchen and started brewing the bitter tea he liked. He smiled fondly and sat down heavily at the table. It had been a long day for him, Haruhi could understand that. Filling water into the teapot, she glanced over her shoulder, eyes hopeful. "... Is this a bad time to mention I need to sleep over at their place this weekend?"

Ranka turned and smiled blankly back at her. "Don't push it."

"But you said you were –"

His eyes closed and his smile grew even larger. "Don't. Push. Daddy."

"... I really do need to study, and they have a large library," she muttered, turning back to the stove.

He grumbled under his breath. Staring at her and then glaring firmly at the door, he grumbled some more.

Eventually, he sighed. "... Yakuza friends. Could be worse I suppose." Sighing again with gusto, he threw his arms over the table and mushed his face against the flat surface. "So," he muttered. "Tell me more about this Ritsu-kun that's stolen my cute little Haruhi."

She beamed.

* * *

Turning ten years old changed nothing either. Haruhi stared into the mirror, tilting her head curiously. From the way everyone was going about it, the event was worthy enough to throw a huge party at the compound with gifts almost being thrown at her. She made a mental note to to correct that the next year. She had told them quite loudly and expressly that if they treated her like at Ritsu's birthday with a party spanning a week and accompanying festivals, she was going to ignore them for five whole months. While she didn't know if she could go without them for so long, they didn't call her bluff and instead took her rule of five yen at most to heart.

With the exception of Ritsu who also gave her a hug, _every single one of them_ currently there gave her one coin when she visited at the fourth of February.

It amounted to quite a bit.

Haruhi had enough integrity that she didn't refuse the gifts, but what was she supposed to do with them all? She had to go to the bank and exchange the bulk to paper currency. The staff had been bemused at the sack she had been dragging but had, quite wrongly, assumed she had a lot of rich relatives that felt guilty at forgetting to give money to her at New Years. Haruhi didn't bother correcting them. With almost the whole lot exchanged, she bought a piggy bank and filled it to bursting with the rest of the coins.

She gave everything else to her father and told him to put it into saving. He didn't ask questions about where she had gotten them from and instead nodded rigidly when she admitted she had been to the bank.

The next day a newspaper clipping about a bank robbery the next town over was sitting on their refrigerator.

Haruhi decided not to ask either. Maybe he knew somebody that had been affected?

Kanda Yoshiteru thankfully didn't celebrate her birthday in such a lavish manner. He was in fact absent a month more until she met him again for her tutelage. When he finally found out, he only peered down at her. "Finally ten years old, huh? Good."

"Good or bad, it happens," she told him wisely.

"True. But it took you long enough. Finally I won't feel bad."

He shrugged and then continued walking along the street, beckoning her to follow. Haruhi did so with bemusement. One thing that she liked about him was that he advocated practicality. Unlike everyone else she's met lately, Yoshiteru much preferred walking when the option was given. Hurrying to catch up with his large stride, she craned her head upwards. "Won't feel bad for what?"

"Leaving you at the police station."

"... What?"

Now that he mentioned it, she recognized the area they were walking in. The police station was right there, and contrary to what she had expected from a man of his dubious connections, he walked in without a care. Directing her through the spacious meeting room and plonking her down on a seat, he gave a quick smile. "Stay here."

"Why?"

He glanced back, having already begun walking. "Hm? Didn't I tell you?"

Tampering down her irritation, she shook her head shortly. "No." While she loved the opportunity given to her and felt incredibly grateful, the fact of the matter was that, well... He tended to forget her. To be fair, he tended to forget a lot of things with her included, but it still irked her. Yoshiteru took for granted that everyone was privy to the knowledge in his head and questioned people's sanity when they didn't.

She had a bit of leeway considering her age, but not by a lot.

He sighed, squeezing the ridge of his nose. "One of our men got himself caught and will finally be released in a moment. I managed to," he paused, glancing around in surprise before smoothly continuing, "they didn't find any evidence. I still have to sign off on some papers."

"Doesn't explain why I need to sit here," she pointed out.

"I want you to take him back to Kasanoda-sama," he said simply.

She tilted her head curiously. "Senior?" She asked just to be sure.

"Senior," he agreed.

Haruhi nodded in understanding. "Do I get homework?" It was going to be one of those days when he didn't really have time for her. They happened sometimes, but he always tried to make the best out of it for her.

"Of course. According to my calculations you will have a better success in increasing the paradigms of any overtures despite previous associations and you've reached an age where sustainability is assured rather than shaky –"

"_Yoshiteru-san_," she interrupted, grimacing.

He blinked. "I want you to get to know these fine police officers until our next meeting."

"That's all?"

"That's all."

Sounded a bit strange. She cast an eye around the room and watched them bustle around or sit at their desks with a frown directed at their papers. They seemed busy with their work. She didn't really want to interrupt, but... She nodded slowly. "Alright."

"Good."

As he left her there, sitting alone on a cushioned seat while waiting for a yakuza to be released, it was pretty much a coin toss of who was more bemused; the yakuza or the police.

Haruhi could tell this was going to become a repeated occurrence.

* * *

Officer Senri rubbed the back of his neck and shared a sympathetic grin with his partner. "They're kicking up such a fuss, aren't they?"

He snorted, nodding. "It's like they're pissed nothing's happening. Just look here," he tapped his paperwork with his pen, smudging some of the lines in the process. He paused, face blanking out at the sight. Senri only laughed. "Oh ha ha," he grumbled, "laugh it up will ya."

"I am."

He shot an annoyed glance at him. "It's your area too," he accused.

Senri could only continue to grin at that. "Yeah, but at least I'm finished–," the doorbell gave a muffled thump, barely noticeable if he wasn't already looking for it. He exchanged a friendly nod with the girl that walked in. "He sent you? Oh well, right on time. I was just telling my partner all about –"

"Shush," his partner swatted him. Turning to her, he raised an eyebrow. "I think you're early actually. No one will be released yet as far as I know. Who is it this time? That Tatsuki bastard?"

Gamely ignoring his harsh words, she shook her head. "No. It's Oromaru-san, actually."

He hummed, and leaning forward despite Senri's tries of pulling him backwards, he shared a secret smile with her. "So, Fujioka-chan, be honest with me. He's pretty serious. Hardcore and stuff, yeah?"

The girl frowned in confusion. "I guess?"

Senji jerked forward instinctively, hand releasing his partner's scuff to instead pat around his desk in search of a recorder. He liked her well enough and couldn't blame her for being corrupted by some lowlife scum. So if she was going to share something to get them convicted, he could barely bring himself to put forward a token protest.

Everything to keep them in jail.

Fujioka shrugged at their expectant looks. "I think he makes a _mean_ –" they held their breaths, and she continued lightly, "– beef at dinner. It packs a punch with his fondness of chili."

They leaned back again. Senri grumbled while his partner made a pathetic face. "That's all?"

"Well..." She grimaced, eyes casting around, and Senri could feel his heart beating faster as he leaned forward. "There was this _murder_ –" they both jerked upright, eyes wide, "– of _crows_ that he tossed a rock at."

Silence.

It felt like he had been drop-kicked by his teacher at the yearly police training. His breath left him in a big whoosh and he fell back into the seat. His partner didn't look better with his face twitching. "I, hm, ah?" He shook his head.

Her lips twitched.

Senri caught her eyes and stared, suspicious by her innocent front. "You did that on purpose, didn't you?" He accused. "Next time you will mention he takes _pride_ in his _lions,_ won't you?"

Her lips twitched again. "Maybe."

This little... He was torn between amusement and annoyance. Then again, he knew she wouldn't reveal anything usable. They had tried before and they were never quite sure if she was serious when she told them about their daily activities of 'kick the can'. After so many tries, he had become a little less enamored about the idea of putting the whole Kasanoda syndicate behind bars. There comes a time in every Officer's life when a girl with big brown eyes that states they jump rope with yakuza that the aforementioned Officer simply has to admit defeat.

His partner shot a desperate look at her. "Please at least tell me he hit the crows."

"No?" She frowned. "He missed."

He sighed. "Can't even charge him for animal cruelty," he grumbled. Haruhi smiled at that and shrugged. "Ah, well, take the documents off from Officer Senri. We might as well start with that."

Senri pulled the release form out with a quick grin at his partner that still looked annoyed at his smudged paper. "Go through questions 1 to 12 and then have your lawyer sign this," he pulled out another form, "and send it in to us within the fortnight. I have to warn you though, it will take a bit longer than usual to have this filed, so you will have to wait for Oromaru at least an hour. So don't rush, okay?"

She nodded. Looking curious, she glanced around. Senri knew she would note the increased activity along with the men that was stealthily sneaking glances at a handheld mirror and correcting their hair position. She looked a bit bemused, but only took the papers and a seat in the end.

That's what Senri liked about the girl. It's hard being suspicious of a yakuza associate when they didn't even linger to hear about police gossip. What's the use of a possible spy if they didn't do spying things?

People these days. They're starting younger and younger.

As if summoned by his stray thought, the Captain sidled in with a young boy accompanying him, talking lowly with a large dose of flattery included. Everyone straightened instinctively and suddenly remembered a very intense and hard task to do. Senri himself corrected his tie before they could walk into sight. Taking forward the paperwork that he had smugly declared to already be finished, he found that the documents could be rewritten in his best police jargon.

He glanced up when Haruhi walked forward, startled out of his concentrated reverie. "Already done?"

"I thought it would be better the faster we could go back," she admitted. He grinned, rolling his eyes – only to notice the young boy walking in their direction and his expression slammed back down into a professional mien. "Yes, of course. This will be handled shortly. Please, take a seat."

"Okay." She side-eyed him but took his advice without asking.

Senri swallowed nervously when he noticed she sat down next to the young master. The boy glanced at her, his face devoid of anything except blasé unconcern. She looked back at him, curious. "I haven't seen another kid here in a while."

"I'm not a kid." He faced forward, and Senri hurriedly looked down.

"... Yes you are," she pointed out delicately.

"No I'm not."

"Alright then, you're not."

The boy smiled despite himself. Senri couldn't help but think it suited the boy much more. "I haven't seen another kid here before."

"You just said–!" Haruhi huffed. "I come her more often than I'm happy about."

"Oh." He glanced at her in sympathy before seemingly catching himself in the act and turning stiffly forward again. "That's... bad."

"Not that bad," she shrugged. "Why are you here then? Especially when you dislike it that much?"

"Who said I disliked being here? I don't," he added, his chest puffed up.

"Yes you do." She looked at him strangely.

"No I don't."

"Yes you..." She paused. Shaking her head, she glanced at the clock. "You didn't answer why you're here."

The boy tilted his chin up. "My family. We're a tough and strong family that's cooperated with the police for hundreds of years."

"That's nice."

He paused. "That's nice?"

She shrugged. "You seem uncomfortable with it."

This time, the pause was longer as he stared at her. His shoulders seemed to crumble minutely and his eyes widen. "I do?"

"Yes. But that's alright. I don't particularly like Yoshiteru-san for sending me here every month."

"Oh. Is he your...?" He asked delicately. Senri stifled his laughter at the awkwardness that seemed to cloak the boy all of a sudden. If only his Captain could see the proud blond heir trying to find out if Fujioka was waiting for a drunkard father.

"Yes," she said simply.

Senri bit his lip.

"So how old are you? Since you're not a kid," she added teasingly.

The boy allowed a quick grin to peak through. "Thirteen."

"Eleven," she responded.

"Hah, I'm older than you."

"We look the same age," she protested. "How would I have known?"

He barked a laugh. "I get that often. I'm just too cute," he stuck a tongue out, tilting his head cutely. Haruhi only smiled, and he quieted, quirking an eyebrow at her. "What?"

"Uh-uh," she shook her head, still smiling. "I'm happy you finally relaxed. It's better this way, isn't it?"

Glancing up and noticing a familiar figure being escorted to the waiting room, she stands and bids him a nice day. Senri watched as she received a quick hug from the burly Oromaru that's quite clearly a yakuza no matter how one looked at him, and turning to the seats, the young teenager that's staring shell-shocked at her.

Senri stifled another smile.

One thing he's learned from all his years as an Officer was that appearances could deceive. It's better to accept it earlier on.

* * *

Everything happened so fast Haruhi barely understood how it started. One second Oromaru was grudgingly walking her home, laughing weakly about how he was for once innocent, the next she opened the door and saw her father lying prone on the floor. Her sight narrowed to only containing him as she stumbled forward, the only thing keeping her up being the arms of the gentle cook.

In the next second she sat inside an ambulance while the persistent noise of the car served to be a background noise to the ambulance personnel explaining the symptoms of an heart attack. She couldn't concentrate on them with more than a panicked glance, her attention focused on the drowsy eyes of her father and the mask that contained the light blue lips.

Flashes of white walls and equally white coats before she sat next to a white linen bed and holding her pale father's hand.

She's sick with worry but he only smiles the moments he's awake. A drip had him drowsy more than not, and she could only be there for a few hours the first day before she was shooed away. Visiting hours was apparently a thing she couldn't wave away, and when she was home, she only looked down at her rice bowl blankly.

She felt sick.

School was nonexistent to her. Ritsu was... _there_, but also not there. Next to her but also in another universe entirely as she watched the phone.

Haruhi knew, in a kind of flighty way, that if he stayed any longer than a week that social care was going to come sniffing. Money for the bills, food and the house was also going to become an issue, and was she going to take a job or –

She didn't know.

Haruhi cried herself to sleep that night.

She didn't really know how it started, but she definitely knew how it ended.

Her father came home with a large tearful smile, encompassing her with a hug that lasted hours if not days. A sudden donation had gotten him the treatment that he needed. Ranka was going to have to go back twice every week for additional shots in the next half a year, but _he was home_ and that was _all that mattered_.

Haruhi could be accused of several things, but dumb was not one of them. She launched herself at Ritsu the next possible moment she could. With a smile so tremulous it almost fell off, she repeats thankyou in a mantra that she stumbled on in a rush to get out.

She didn't know how she could have managed if she didn't have a friend like him. Letting someone else handle the hard parts of her life didn't seem so bad all of a sudden.

"Thank you," she whispered, squeezing her eyes shut and ignoring the hitch in her voice.

"I know," he whispered back.

* * *

**A/N** Culture explanation; Interestingly enough, Christmas is an event for couples more than it is for family in Japan. If I remember it right, it was one of those 'lost in translation' things when it was introduced. Also, the New Years means money in the post for the children, which was why the bankers didn't look as alarmed as they should have.

Anyway, this was a fastforward chapter, but it couldn't be helped. I'm still going to go through the whole Ouran shebang, so we can't be stuck at chibi!Haruhi forever. Even though she's a delight.

Also. Honey (if you didn't already realize). The more I ponder on ways to write him, the better his character seem to develop in my head. He's a bit more complex than I gave him credit for. Might even go back and edit this chapter later. I'm not overly fond of how it came out. And if the last part seemed odd, it was because it was supposed to from another point of view but Haruhi kind of refused? Ahaha, I don't know what my writing does sometime.

Next chapter, coming next month! See you then!


	8. Chapter 8

****Summary:**** Basically, Haruhi comes into contact with the Yakuza at a young age, and all shall dread the days to come.

****Authors note:**** Regular Doctor-y appointments sucks. And exams. And non existing time. Just throwing that out there so you can know my suffering. Either way, back with another chapter exactly like I promised. Concerning the last one, I'm aware of how strange the pacing can be in certain places. It suits my need for now. Later chapters will have it stabilized since we can enter a more stable time zone. The Ouran Arc will be at Chapter 11? Maybe.

It won't be apparent immediately, but it's been a few months time skip since we last met Haruhi.

Enjoy!

* * *

o0o0o0o0o0o

Chapter 8

Haruhi wore her hair long and her clothes simple with the exception of an intricate bow perched upon her head at the insistence of her father. He had persisted that it would contrast beautifully with her own bought shoes, that naturally was of the sensible and practical sort, so Haruhi had taken it without argument. She looked harmless despite the frown that tugged her brows down and the twitch to her fingers that crinkled a white envelop even more than it already was.

Those that were acquainted with her knew differently and could clearly recognize the girl on a warpath with the smallest of clues.

Her gritted teeth was a dead giveaway.

Men twice her size with tattoos hugging their chest and a diction-worthy sneer all took one look at her and then parted like the ocean in front of her long, irritated strides. She barely spared the yakuza a glance as she entered the compound. One poor delivery boy that was briefly confronted by her tight smile quickly directed her to the back where the young heir was, his hand shaking as he witnessed the fearsome girl go past him with a nod of thanks. Her reputation exceeded her at this point, a large pile of exaggerations that would only grow larger with the following altercation to come. Haruhi knew this, if only peripherally, but she could care less at the moment.

She was determined to confront Ritsu.

Haruhi found him in one of the smaller gardens that was surrounded by a porch on all sides. His back was to her as he squatted next to a long line of greenery. Various tools laid assorted next to him, one dirty hand patting the grass until it closed on the scissors and he traded it for the spade that was in his other hand. She refused to be fooled by the light humming filling the air and instead folded her arms, staring at him with narrowed eyes.

"Ritsu," she said flatly.

He startled, swinging around with heavy frown that switched to a crooked smile at the sight of her. He laid the scissors down and squinted up at her. She was pretty sure that it was because of the glaring sun behind her and not the tone she had used. "Haruhi!" He greeted warmly. Ritsu absently wiped at a dirt stained cheek but only managed to smear it out in the end. "I have something to show you. Come. I –," and he glanced sideways at that, suddenly bashful as red crept up his ears, "I... I wanted to keep it a secret a bit longer, but now that you found me... Well." He scratched his cheek, shrugging. He still wasn't looking at her.

Intrigued despite herself, Haruhi loosened her arms from the disapproving fold and took a few careful steps forward. Ritsu obligingly shifted to the side to give her a better view. She was surprised to see that among the greenery of plants she had no idea how to classify except from that they weren't flowers or fully grown; a potted plant was nestled between. The brown pottery stuck out of the earth like a sore thumb, the tomato plant doubly so with the yellow orbs of unripened fruit.

She gave the plant one long stare before she glanced at Ritsu.

He had been staring at her in turn and he puffed his chest out when he noticed her expression. She could never stay mad at him for long, especially not when he was so obviously waiting for her approval in a twisted brand of friendship. As if anyone should stop their hobby simply because a friend had voiced their disapproval of the subject. Ritsu was too delicate sometimes. His hard work was shown from the dirt under his nails to that persistent smudge against his cheek. Why anyone would throw that away if she shook her head, she would never know.

Unwittingly, her face softened and she gave a small genuine smile. "That's nice. Will you share the tomato with the cooks when they're ripened?"

His smile grew larger as he ducked his head, nodding. "Yea, that was my plan. They were complaining about not having enough..." He trailed off, staring at the single plant. It would barely be enough for one person, and hardly something that could last for hundreds, but at least it was something. He frowned nevertheless.

She shifted and smiled at him. "Sounds lovely," she started to appease, then stopped. The motion had crinkled the envelope in her hand and she stared down like it was an alien protrusion. Ritsu's eyes drew towards it only when the silence ticked on.

Seeing who the official stamp belonged to, he immediately winced.

Haruhi caught it and her eyebrows came crashing down once again. Reminded of the reason she had been mad at him, she was determined not to let him escape that easy. "What," she stated flatly, "is the meaning of this?"

"I..." He hedged, head turning away. The current size difference with only her standing gave him an excellent excuse to avoid her accusation head-on, and realizing this, she squatted down next to him. Knocking their shoulders together, she stared intensely at him. He resisted for quite some time before he glanced over.

He gulped nervously.

Ruthlessly, she continued to stare at him. "Why did I get an admission letter for _this_ school?"

"Hrn!?" He eeped aggressively.

"_Why_," Haruhi pressed on.

He fidgeted and dug his fingers into the dirt, mumbling something under his breath. She continued to stare at him. "Okay!" He blurted out. "Okay okay. I thought... I wanted..." He gave the envelope one more glance before lifting his gaze to hers. He cringed. "I kinda signed you onto my school cuzIwantedyouclose and," Ritsu took a deep breath and put on his most scary face that even gave Haruhi pause for a moment while stumbling out the words, "Please don't kill me!"

She blinked. Slowly.

"I already had a middle-school lined up for me," she pointed out mildly. A bit too mildly. "I've been studying for their exams almost a month now."

He cringed again. "I know!" He groused out darkly. Despite the tone, Haruhi didn't bother taking it to heart. His training usually made him look like a grown man's worst nightmare if caught off guard. Come to think of it, that was his exterior look among strangers.

While she did understand that he was mostly made of wet paper inside, she didn't much care for the look being directed at her. "Ritsu!" She snapped. He startled and fell down on his bottom, staring up at her with wide shocked eyes. She detected his breathing speeding up, and though she felt momentarily bad for it, she didn't relent. She stood up and raised her voice higher. "I do _not_ want to be side-stepped in these sort of matters. It's _my_ life! Just because you have the influence doesn't mean you should use it however you please!"

While she stared with flinty cold eyes, Ritsu only looked up from her feet, his expression draining into something devoid of his usual scowl. He looked even more vulnerable because of it.

Haruhi continued to wait for the inevitable counter-arguments, ready to fling them back scalding and burning. They never came though. He looked up, eyes pleading. Nibbling on his lip, he eventually just sighed and looked away, relaxing back onto the ground to await her judgement. When he finally opened his mouth, only one word squeezed out.

"Sorry."

All the hot air deflated from her at one fell swoop.

It wasn't really his fault, now was it? She could always decline the offer from the school and that would be it. She didn't need to get so angry at him. Haruhi had accepted his help before without questions asked. More times than she was willing to admit had she waited for his help to come. Except... it still rankled her that he had made the decision without her. Wanting to spend more time with her wasn't an excuse. He could have asked her! Talked with her, even! She would have listened.

She did _not_ appreciate these kind of surprises so close to graduation.

Her anger that was beginning to be whipped up into something impressive was completely aborted by a noise.

His stomach gave a _loud_ rumble.

The noise was in fact so loud and long-drawn out that Haruhi could have sworn she felt it vibrate the soles of her shoes. Bemused, she glanced down and then at a fiercely blushing Ritsu. She raised an eyebrow. "You haven't..." She started, and he shook his head, trying to look everywhere but at her. He leaned back and was seemingly trying to be absorbed into the earth. Haruhi pursed her lips. "You shouldn't skip lunch. It isn't good for you," she scolded. When he still didn't look at her, even though his stomach uttered another loud protest, she frowned. "Go back inside and eat lunch." When he still hesitated, she put on her most menacing scowl and pointed inside. "_Now_."

He scrambled up, almost flinging his gardening tools to the side and hurriedly brushing his pants from the telltale dirt. She watched his form running to the porch and then stop abruptly in disapproval. He turned his head ever so slightly over his shoulder, hair falling across his eyes.

Her eyes narrowed. "Yes?" She prompted.

Slowly, a smile twitched his lips upward. He turned more fully and showed the bright grin he wore. Cheeks puffed and eyes crinkled, he laughed. "Thanks for caring!"

Before she could answer, or do anything more than stare, he turned tail and ran inside.

"... Of course I care about you," she grumbled. Her shoulders slumped and she dragged an exhausted hand through her hair. "Even when you insist on taking care of _me_."

Haruhi could recognize the hypocrisy in her thoughts and that only made her more disgruntled. Ritsu had already done so much for her and she really didn't want any more help, but could she deny it? When it would make Ritsu that happy? Staring down at the envelope, she huffed.

"I suppose not."

* * *

Cradling her beer jug of milk, she sipped it slowly and tried to stare a hole into the wall. The bartender had wisely chosen to escape to the other side while the clients had taken one bemused look at her before going back to their booths. Haruhi had become a regular enough fixture at her father's workplace that no one batted an eye at her presence anymore. They had even begun to stock up on milk for her convenience.

"Oh dear. That kind of a day huh?"

She glanced up. "Haru-san," she greeted. After a brief pause, she corrected, "It's that kind of a _year_, apparently."

The professional transvestite sauntered up to the seat next to her and leaned close. Expression softening, Haru hummed. "That doesn't sound so good."

Haruhi pursed her lips. Gnawing slightly on her bottomlip, she exhaled gustily when Haru kept on staring at her. "Sorry to trouble you. It's just that..." She hesitated before plowing on. "It's just that I've been to my new school administration earlier today."

"You didn't pass your exams? Or," she blinked, "wait, _new_ school? You passed."

She nodded shortly. "I passed."

"Then what's the problem?"

Haruhi ducked the question by taking another sip of her milk. Her father always boasted that she would be the tallest girl when she grew up from all the calcium, but from what she knew about herself, she had not inherited her mother's genes. Even the normally short Ritsu looked to be having a growth spurt. He complained about his joints in that kind of 'I will kill you if you laugh' kind of way. Which reminded her... She sighed. "I haven't told my friend yet."

"Oh?" Haru cocked her head to the side, the long blond wig following the motion and catching the light. Her every move looked so smooth, almost impossibly so, that Haruhi couldn't help but notice how ingrained it looked. The more she looked, the more fake the movements felt. Wonder if she had to practice in front of a mirror? Shaking herself out of her musings, Haruhi listened when Haru went on in confusion. "Is this that boy you're always talking about? Don't worry. I think he will be happy you got in."

He would be _overjoyed_. And that was exactly the problem.

Haruhi had stormed in, shouted at him while accusing him of manipulation and then she had stormed out again. A month ago. And she had yet to go near his place. For her self-imposed isolation to be complete she had even chased the stray yakuza away with a well placed glare and folded arms. From their quick escape, she assumed they already knew about the little spat with Ritsu. No one wanted to get between.

She shrugged the thought away and miserably took another sip of her milk. It's not like _she_ wanted to get between either, but it just sort of happened? Right now, her anger at him had fizzled away into disgruntled exasperation. Haruhi should have known he would try something like this. He had been hovering over her ever since her father's lapse in health.

It was exactly because of that she couldn't really fault him. If she did, she might as well engrave a tattoo on her head about what a hypocrite she was considering the sudden donation that she had accepted. The yakuza could probably recommend a good artist. On the other hand, accepting the change of school wasn't so hard. The one he was going to would still be communal, but much more elite that supposedly consisted of the better half of teachers available. She had been lucky to be invited to sit their exams.

Still. She gritted her teeth. It rankled her to accept something that might as well have been charity.

"I don't want him to get the wrong idea," she admitted.

Haru blinked. "Um. I don't think I understand. How could he get the wrong idea from that?"

"He might get the idea that it's okay to continue like this. Giving me things and such," she grumbled. Seeing the startled eyes of Haru, she was quick to add, "It's _really not_. I can take care of myself." A snort was covered up by the transvestite turning away, shoulders shaking

"Oh honey," a gravely low voice said, "you're going to make them struggle for it, won't you?"

Haruhi looked around curiously for anyone that had inserted themselves into the conversation, but no one appeared. She turned to Haru who glanced back at her with a coy smile. Her pink eyelashes fluttered. "What?" Haruhi asked suspiciously. Automatically, she tucked herself closer to the milk glass and frowned at the woman.

She only chuckled lightly, her voice soft. "Nothing. Nothing at all. Maybe it's possible you're over thinking the whole thing. If he's your friend, he should already know your limits after all. Anyway," she waved the matter off, "it's no use debating about maybes and possibles. Why don't we switch subjects? Like," she leaned closer, eyes bright in curiosity, "how was graduation?"

Haruhi breathed out with a small smile. "I passed with the highest grades. I wasn't so sure about chemistry, but I managed."

"That's great! Are you going to tell your friend –"

"No," she bluntly shot down. Seeing the confusion of the older woman, she shrugged lightly. "I mean, it's probably not the best idea. Let him stew in his thoughts a little longer, just so that he knows my opinion on the entire admission letter." Haruhi tapped her chin, humming a bit. "That reminds me actually. I was thinking on getting a job while we have spring vacation."

Haru snorted. Drily, she asked, "Preferably out of the city?"

She smiled sheepishly but didn't bother to hide it. "Yes."

"Well, I can't help you with _that_. You're a bit too young to work here, and my last workplace needs people over fifteen. So – wait, no, I think I know a place. Your dad always talks about his friend that started a motel in a tourist area. What do you think about that?"

She perked up. "Really? That sounds excellent! I'll ask him." Drinking the last of her milk and then putting it down with a small nod to the bartender, she smiled brilliantly up at the transvestite. "Thank you so much, Haru-san! You've been a great help."

"Glad to be of assistance." She waved the young girl away. "Now shoo."

Bemused, she waved goodbye before heading out. Haruhi was intent to take a shower and dispel the heavy cloud of perfume that seemed to cling to her. She had just left the bento with her father so she could always go back and ask him directly, but she knew he would be much more agreeable if she did it at home. She would serve his favorite dinner, clean the apartment and even put on a 'cute' outfit to make him more malleable.

Haruhi wanted to sort out her thoughts and staying near Ritsu wouldn't do it.

* * *

The place she ended up working at was indeed in a tourist area. The manager was a former co-worker with Ranka at a alcoholic store and interestingly enough, both had become professional transvestites in the end. Since her father already knew the owner, he wasn't overly worried about her being away for two weeks. He did insist on calling everyday except for those days that he also worked the whole day, but she was fine with that.

Being so close to the ocean in the spring made for a pleasant change. The pocket money was also a bonus. Haruhi could have done without the storms but it wasn't any worse than it would be back in Tokyo.

All in all, Haruhi liked her first job.

Entirely too soon, her two weeks was over and April rolled in with its new school term.

* * *

Haruhi stuck out like a sore thumb. It wasn't any conscious decision for this, nor was it something she could rectify. While looking around at the crowd gathered in the school's gymnasium, Haruhi realized she had made quite a few assumptions. Her previous visit was without any students and the atmosphere was drastically different when they were all gathered.

She stood in a corner, squinting up at the empty podium and shifting in her new uniform. It was a navy blue gakuran while the boys wore the black version. Nothing wrong with that. It was, however, surprising when up to half of the students rode in with motorcycles and the other half had either stylized their uniform against protocol or had some sort of tattoo creeping up their neck. They had already formed social groups that seemed to evolve around those factors. Did they have a tattoo? Then they stood in front near the podium. Did they have a loud bike waiting for them in the yard? Furthest back and leaning against the wall. She couldn't see them so well, but most of the girls had longer skirts and had a helmet under their arm. Then there was the middle group that seemingly didn't fit well into those two main groups. Haruhi was a part of the third group. And yet, she wasn't. Her back was too straight, her clothes too clean, her eyes too wide.

All of Haruhi was too _too_, if that was even possible.

She considered herself to be a normal person. She rarely was too much of something and even in the cases she was, it involved more of her maturity than anything. It felt like she had a neon sign pointing at her and declaring her to be the odd one out.

For as anyone could see, the school she had started wasn't a normal one. It wasn't immediately noticeable though. The building looked normal, the personnel professional and the exam hard enough to be satisfying, but the students gave it away.

She felt a brief twinge of exasperation at Ritsu when she realized he had dragged her to a sort of yakuza mini school.

Haruhi was sure that one of the boys were a yakuza son considering the way he had been blatantly staring at her. He had looked away when she had waved at him, but she couldn't blame him. They didn't really know each other except from one of Ritsu's subordinates.

Speaking of which, it wasn't hard to see Ritsu in the crowd. He was in the front, his flaming red hair easily seen above everyone else.

"He must have hit a growth spurt," she murmured with slight interest, tilting her head. He was probably going to tower over her from now on if she didn't hit a similar one. She doubted it though.

"Tall, isn't he?" A voice whispered into Haruhi's ear. She startled, twisting around to see white teeth entirely too close for comfort. She took a few steps back. "I mean," the girl continued, her hand resting against her hip and lazily checking her nails on the left, "it's hard not to notice."

Well, she had a point. His height was eye-catching. "I agree." Haruhi tilted her head. "Who are you?"

The girl glanced over at her, an indolent smirk stretching her lips upwards. "Wouldn't you like to know? Or, would you rather want to know who _that_ is?" The two buns on her head bobbed with her when she nodded towards Ritsu.

"He's not really a 'that'," she protested in bewilderment.

The girl ignored her. "He's the heir of the Kasanoda syndicate," she stage-whispered. Some of the people standing close enough to hear gasped at that. Haruhi didn't react other than raising an eyebrow. Was that supposed to be a secret or something? The girl seemed only more pleased when Haruhi didn't express her surprise. "Oh? So you already knew? How interesting," she grinned.

"It's hard not to know," she dryly pointed out.

"I agree," the girl teased back.

She was a bit strange, Haruhi mused, but then again so was everyone else. Her included, or so she had been told by quite a few yakuza. Their idea of strange should probably not be counted in any sort of argument though considering their idea of normal. That included Ritsu if this was the school he wanted to be in.

She sighed. Three more years and then it was off to high-school. She could handle it.

The girl observed her, eyes slanted to take in every movement that made Haruhi want to twitch. When she opened her mouth, whatever she was going to say would remain a mystery. The headmaster had stepped onto the podium and loudly cleared his throat. Despite the students not standing in any sort of order, they grudgingly quieted, gaze directed to the front. Haruhi followed suit, squinting a little to see better.

If the students were anything to base it upon, she suspected that the upcoming three years would at least be filled with interesting people.

* * *

She didn't last longer than a day before a commotion had started with her in the middle. Haruhi had genuinely been surprised it took that long while she was also exasperated it came so soon. It started simply with a delivery boy she could vaguely recognize shouting "Nee-san!" in glee. Then someone else recognized her and went forward to greet her. And then another who complimented her on her cooking.

That in of itself wasn't a problem. She was used to that from her frequent visits to the compound. The problem lied in that they apparently belonged to the first social group. Which in turn meant they were popular enough to notice, and consequently, anything they noticed were interesting enough to gain everyone's attention. Haruhi did _not_ appreciate being in the middle of that.

"Why's she called Nee-san?"

"EH?! She's yakuza? And here I was thinking she was a yankee."

"So she's not in a gang?"

"I knew it! She didn't have a bike, you see."

"Makes sense, she's scary."

"Oh, my dad's friend knows someone that's eaten her food!"

Haruhi palmed her face and breathed deeply. It wasn't until a familiar voice broke through that she looked up again.

"Haruhi? Haruhi!" Ritsu swooped in like an oversized bat, scattering students left and right as he stopped in front of her. The smile together with the menacing frown was an interesting combination, but he did look overjoyed to see her. "I didn't know you would come!"

Haruhi looked up, craning her neck to see him properly. "Well. It's bad to waste an excellent opportunity," she said mildly.

He winced, rubbing the back of his head. "Ah. About that." He looked around awkwardly. The students that stood in a loose half circle around them leaned in when he muttered, "Sorry." He looked back at her. "I wasn't thinking."

"No. You didn't," she agreed. He winced again.

"And, ah, about the spring break... Sorry that I avoided you. I was busy with... with family matters and I didn't have time for anything else and I couldn't even properly apologize to you so I understand if you hate me and never want to see me again but please don't take it so far because I'm really sorry for not saying it sooner and –"

Haruhi couldn't hold it any longer. Her deadpan expression cracked and she burst into laughter. The dumbfounded face Ritsu wore only spurned her on even more and she bent down, holding her stomach as she was thrown into fits of laughter.

"What?" He bit out. She glanced up and only continued to laugh at his confusion. "Haruhi!" He whined.

"Sorry," she breathed out, waving a hand to give her a moment longer. Holding her breath, she tried to trap any more of her laughter. Still, her cheeks hurt from the smile she aimed at him. "It's just that, _I_ was avoiding _you_."

He blinked. Eventually, he said in a very small voice, "Oh."

"Exactly!" She closed her eyes and grinned up at him. She had been worried about what his reaction would be, and all this time, he had been worried about _her_ reaction. They were more alike than she thought. "Thanks," she added belatedly, opening her eyes.

He blinked again, and she could still see a faint dusting of red on his cheeks. "Why? I mean," he cleared his throat harshly, paused, and then repeated, "why?"

"For caring," she said simply.

Ignoring the other students, she gave him a brief hug before leaving the circle and headed to her classroom. She wasn't in school to socialize despite popular opinion and she would like to ask their teacher a few questions before the others arrived. She wanted to be prepared for the rest of the year. Early bird gets the worm, as the saying goes.

It was harder to ignore the whispers that followed her though. Who were they planning a marriage for, and why?

She shook her head, entirely bemused. People her age were strange.

* * *

"So," the girl started from behind, and Haruhi turned to look at her with a raised eyebrow, "I guess you did know him."

"I never said I didn't."

"Even so." The girl she met from the gymnasium sidled up to her, a handshake offered in the western style. "I'm Ami and only Ami. Nothing added to it neither in front or back."

Haruhi shook her hand. "I'm Fujioka Haruhi. It's nice to meet you, Ami."

When she was about to draw back, Ami suddenly squeezed her hand tight and pulled her close, peering searchingly into her eyes. Haruhi stared back even though their noses were touching. After a moment, Ami smiled and drew back again. "Yes, I do think it's nice to meet you. We're going to be the bestest of friends from now on."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me." Ami sauntered past, grinning over her shoulder at her. "Take care of me." And then she went inside the classroom Haruhi had been walking towards. She blinked.

"I... I don't think that's how it works." She ruffled her hair but shrugged in the end. Haruhi didn't have many friends so she wasn't really the expert on how friendships formed. She was, on the other hand, quite certain that friends wasn't made by a simple offhand remark. Maybe that's just her personality? In either case, she was probably going to see her around.

No use worrying about it now.

* * *

**A/N** And she's in middle-school! Hurray! People are still confused by her mere existence while Haruhi wonders why she's the only sane one around. I also wonder that, but then again, I'm the one writing this. Depending on how things go, I'm going to have two more chapters while she's in school with Ritsu and then she's off to Ouran. Let's cross our fingers and hope, shall we?

Anyway. This chapter was a bit short. Anything you would like to see in the upcoming chapter(s)? What should happen in middle-school? If I think it fits, I could write it in and you will have more to read. It will be a win-win situation for us all!

My schedule is tripling, but I'll try to get the next chapter out as soon as I can. See you then!


	9. Chapter 9

****Summary:**** Basically, Haruhi comes into contact with the Yakuza at a young age, and all shall dread the days to come.

****Authors note:**** I don't know if any of you read my A/N at Clockwork and a Teacup, but I wasn't kidding about my schedule, and on top of that, I caught a cold. Ugh. But I'm still alive and kicking! As incredibly cheesy as it might sound, what really gets me up and back to writing is you all. You're all so incredibly supportive of what my brain cooks up and I'm easily flustered by your reviews. Both reviewers and silent readers, thank you so much! Here you go, another chapter where Haruhi proves why she isn't the typical heroine of a story. Everyone who commented had interesting ideas (and thought in eerily similar pathways as me). Some of them will definitely be incorporated. Thank you!

And as an added note, I was surprised at how many of you disliked Ami at sight. You're really protective of Haruhi, aren't you?

Here you go, the chapter that refused to end in nothing less than 11k. Enjoy!

* * *

o0o0o0o0o0o

Chapter 9

With a finger tracing the words, Haruhi quietly read through their English textbook. It was intermingled with literature works and notes of culture, which she thought was fairly easy to work on. _With nary a whisper to be heard in the silent eve_, Haruhi read. Intrigued, she skipped down a bit and squinted at the questions attached to it. What mood did the text prompt? What style was it written in?

"HEY! Catch, you dork!" An object was flung at high speed over her head, landing with a wet smack on someone's chest.

Haruhi resisted looking, only twitching a bit at the shout.

The mood of the text... She tapped her pencil across the words for another moment before she wrote down the obvious answer. It inspired silence and –

"NO!" A voice shrieked. "Not us! I don't want to go with them!"

She tightened her grip on the pencil until it became almost punishing. Closing her eyes, Haruhi counted silently to five. One. Two. Three. Fo–

"What are you doing?" A weight settled on Haruhi's shoulders and she could feel Ami's jaw work on top of her head when she smirked. "Free time doesn't literally mean we should continue to study."

"What else could it possible mean?" If the teacher had assigned homework, wasn't it obvious that it should be done in the allotted time? Ami evidently didn't think so, because she spun around and sat down on the table next to Haruhi's right side.

Plucking her pen with ease, which earned an indignant squawk from her, Ami leaned back on her hands. "Oh, poor little girl," she cooed. "Shackled by the pains of education. Let your dear ol' friend help you out."

"Old? We've known each other for a week," Haruhi said in exasperation and made grabby motions to retrieve her writing tool.

Ami smirked in answer but otherwise ignored her. "You know, I sometimes wonder about you."

"_You_ wonder about _me_?"

"You continuously miss the important questions," Ami went on blithely, prompting an eye-roll from Haruhi. "Grades aren't the whole world no matter what they say. Screw them, okay? Instead of burying yourself in books, you should look up and observe the people around you." Nudging her head to the side, Ami pointed to the rest of the class. Some were furiously whispering with each other, some looked incredibly excited and the rest bordered on ambivalent and anxious. And all of them, every single one except Haruhi and Ami, were moving steadily out of the classroom. One quick glance outside showed that some blurry forms were already outside and moving to some far off point.

Haruhi frowned. "Where are they all going?" She hadn't heard anything about a school-trip or that a today-only special event was ongoing. Only a few special sales at the local market, but Haruhi doubted her class would be interested in buying soy sauce for a discount.

"Where we're going," Ami cheekily replied.

"... We are?" Haruhi sighed and then uttered in her most driest sarcasm; "No, wait, of course we're going. What else could we be doing during our free time?"

"Now you're getting it!" Ami clapped her shoulder, dropped the pen on her textbook and then jumped off. "I think your tall friend is coming too. Just," she winked, "if you needed another incentive."

Ami sauntered off, exchanging a few words with another classmate as she left the classroom.

Haruhi stared after her with a furrowed brow. She liked to think that she didn't only read books, but it was true that was the only thing she had done for the past week. Grades certainly didn't have such a high importance, but for Haruhi it was a necessary evil towards becoming a lawyer. But the way she had spoken those words... it had sounded surprisingly bitter. There was a story there, Haruhi knew. She wasn't going to pry though.

She tapped her fingers against the table, lips pursed. Another quick glance outside the blurry window and she relented, if only to satisfy her curiosity. Ami never answered her question after all.

* * *

The place they were all heading to turned out to be a badly maintained factory that laid a good ten minute walk away. Ami looked incredibly smug when Haruhi finally caught up to her. Their classmates gave short nods to acknowledge their arrival while some seniors only gave them a short glance. Haruhi could recognize a few yakuza children, third years and second years according to their altered emblems grouped together alongside the fence. A boy her age seemed to be messing around with the lock to no avail while an older girl who looked remarkably similar to the boy gave him soft directions.

She turned to Ami, confused. She smirked back, a finger to her lips while she shifted slightly closer. "We drew the short straw," she said in explanation... which made absolutely no sense to Haruhi. Ami seemed to sense this, because a brief flicker of surprise crossed her expression before it narrowed and she stared shrewdly at her. "Our school is hosting this time," she said slowly, almost experimentally. "The first years gets the task to prepare the area. Our class president just happened to draw the short straw."

Haruhi continued to stare, uncomprehending.

Ami stared back, eyes widening the longer Haruhi showed her confusion.

Seeing as they were in a stalemate, Haruhi was the first one to break eye contact. She didn't actually understand what their school were hosting, why it was considered bad luck that their class had to do it and _why_ of all places they decided an abandoned factory would be the brilliant choice to have it in. What she did understand though, was that Ami hadn't been entirely truthful. "I guess Ritsu isn't coming, then?" He was in another class entirely and prone to having a cluster of yakuza children a respectful distance behind. There wasn't even a hint of red anywhere near.

"... No. Probably not," she admitted slowly.

"Oh. Alright then."

Ami's stare wavered before she tucked one eyebrow up, carefully folding her arms under her chest. "Alright?"

Haruhi nodded absently, slightly adjusting her bag so it sat higher on her shoulder. From the triumphant whoop, the boy at the lock had probably managed to open the gate. Classmates and seniors alike poured inside. Haruhi offered a smile before turning around. "See you later in class then."

"Wait!" Ami grabbed her arm. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Back."

"You _can't_." Haruhi raised a skeptical eyebrow, finally turning around to look at a pouting Ami. She fluttered her eyelashes and almost shyly took hold of the end of her uniform top. "You don't want to leave me alone here, do you? Your only best friend in the midst of two fighting gangs. That's not fair, is it?"

She mouthed '_fighting gangs_' a bit incredulously, in which Ami only nodded back in answer and made a show of poking the ground with her foot. The pity was strong in her expression as she pleaded with her eyes. Haruhi looked at the girl, nonplussed and nowhere near impressed. She had spent her time in an okama bar in near regularity a few years now, and unlike Ami's fluttering, the professional transvestites did those things for a living.

She did sigh, however. Focusing on the most important part of her pleading, Haruhi wondered a bit incredulously, "Why would you _want_ to stay in the midst of two fighting gangs?" Because clearly, there was something wrong with this girl if she would willingly go to such an event as a non-participator.

"It's not like I _want to_," Ami said, finally dropping the act with a disdainful whiff. She looked over her shoulder at the building and crinkled her nose. "I would even spend my free time _studying_ with you, rather than fix this old rust-bitten place up. It's a tetanus infection waiting to happen."

Ignoring the implied insult easily, Haruhi prodded, "Then why do you?"

She made a sound of frustration and threw her arms up. "Alright, that's it. I can't decide if you're yanking my chain or if you really don't know." Completely exasperated now, she turned on her heel and strode away, answering over her shoulder, "Because we drew the short straw, and unlike you, I can't skip this darling event alongside the yakuza kids." She twirled her fingers in a mocking salute, sending one last grimace over her shoulder before she squeezed through the open fence. "Have fun studying, bestie."

Haruhi tilted her head. She had gone with Ami to get some answers to where they had all been going, and most importantly _why_, but she had been left with even more questions instead.

She turned the problem over in her head and scrutinized it in different angles. She could always follow Ami and see for herself, but then again, she didn't need to be apprenticed to a yakuza lawyer to know some of the terms that had been used. Like what could _fighting gangs _possibly mean? She could guess well enough from over here, thanks.

… Oh well. Not her problem.

She turned and walked back to school. Plausible deniability and all that.

* * *

Ritsu was usually surrounded by a bubble of privacy in the classroom. Everyone bolted from their seats the instant the class was over, and this day wasn't any different. Even those that he had seen on the Kasanoda grounds had chosen to respectfully back away at his presence. If it was because they respected him or was intimidated by the scowl remained to be seen.

He tried to appear friendly, smiling the way Haruhi does to him when she's being all flowery and sparkling, but it usually had the opposite effect for him. They scattered even _faster_ and he hadn't known that was physically possible.

Fact of the matter, Ritsu wasn't surprised at all that Haruhi was the only one that breached the bubble of solitude at lunch break. He sipped at his tea in content while she brought out her own bento.

She said as a way of greeting; "You never mentioned anything about school-gangs fighting."

He choked.

"I mean," Haruhi went on, uncaring to his plight as he spluttered and coughed, "you didn't really mention anything about this school. I had to look up the information myself. And now that I think about it, the pamphlet was suspiciously sparse about the students."

"_Hrnh_?!" He coughed, spluttered and eventually managed to wheeze out, "Who told you that?"

"Ami did."

Ritsu's expression grew foreboding, and his classmates flinched automatically, scooting a bit closer to the end of the room. "Who is Ami? And what family does she come from?"

"Just Ami," Haruhi deflected. She looked up from trying to locate her chopsticks in her bag and gave him an unimpressed look. "And don't change the topic."

The class stared, fascinated when Ritsu backed off and squirmed uncomfortably. He coughed and averted his eyes. "Hrnh," he muttered aggressively. She waited patiently. After a few seconds where he tried to muster up his bravery to face her head-on, she took the option away by speaking up first.

"I'm not accusing you," she began delicately. "It's merely," she shrugged, plucking up some plain rice, "it would have been nice to be forewarned about this."

Ritsu _flinched_.

Haruhi hadn't looked pissed, betrayed or anything similar, and that was precisely the reason Ritsu couldn't bear to look at her any further. She was so strange sometimes, entirely new in her thinking and so independent that he could scarcely think anything unpleasant might touch her. He had been in so much awe of her when they first met. But then again, he had been reminded time after time that she was only human. She could cry, could become scared and as he had come to realize, she could also flounder.

It was only recently that he had gotten Haruhi to trust him enough to, little by little, hand over the reins of her life.

To help her father. To choose a school. To assist in her dreams. To trust their_ friendship_. And wasn't that a whole world of difference to the responsibilities garnered by the Kasanoda name?

Ritsu winced. He had really screwed up this time, hadn't he?

"Sorry."

Haruhi blinked up at him. "What for?"

Despite her clueless expression, she seemed a bit too knowing with her eyes. Definitely the influence of their lawyer, he grumbled internally.

An unpleasant buzzing could be heard in his ears the longer she stared, and he shifted, suddenly feeling like the sun had decided the classroom should have its cousin within it. The fascinated eyes of his classmates got him to only scowl harder. He rubbed the back of his neck, rushing the words out under his breath.

His attention shifted when Haruhi put away her bento and leaned forward in concern. "Sorry, what did you say?"

His shoulders went up, but he grudgingly forced his tongue to cooperate. "I'm sorry I'm not the friend you deserve," he snapped out, cheeks flushing. When she looked ready to protest, he shook his head sharply. "You're always doing things for me, helping me and being beside me even though it interrupts your life. I know you would have been happier without me. Could have gone to the school you yourself wanted, wouldn't have learned kenjutsu even though you dislike hurting people, getting kidnapped... because of _me_..." His voice petered out. The last one always made his chest squeeze tight and he looked down in shame. "I shouldn't have been so selfish in my decision. Next time... Next time, I promise you that I will consult your opinion on the matter." When she didn't react more than to raise her eyebrow at his spiel, he hurried on and added, "As a sign of my regret, I will be in your debt."

Her eyebrow was soon joined by the other when she realized the stunned audience they had to their conversation. She slowly dragged her gaze around, taking in the speechless and gaping students before her eyes returned to meet his. She blinked, once. "Ritsu, you didn't have to take it that far," she said mildly, both berating and fond in the same breath. "I'm your friend. And besides, you've already apologized to me once."

He frowned. "Still," he said stubbornly. "You deserve better."

She looked ready to argue the matter, but she thought better of it when she glanced to the side. "Alright," Haruhi said instead. Her eyes promised further discussion though. "It is my debt to collect."

With those formal words, her entire posture changed and she relaxed back into the chair, picking her bento up and continued to eat. Ritsu stared at her alongside his classmates.

Was it a good thing or bad thing that she had been introduced to their lawyer?

"So. About gangs fighting," she prodded, and he winced. He had hoped she would have forgotten about that.

"Yes?" He scowled. Taking his own store bought bread, his fingers twitched from the tight grip he had.

"Would I have to participate?"

His bread fell to the desk. "I –" Ritsu closed his mouth. She was serious, he realized. Her question was in all sincerity about if she would have to fight. Of all the things she could have brought up... He shook his head dumbly.

She smiled. "Good."

Then she returned to her lunch, carefree and ignoring the way the entire class was staring at her. It took a moment for his brain to catch up with his eyes, but he took upon his most fiercest and scowling expression to make his classmates back off. They tripped over themselves in their hurry to comply.

"How is your History going along?"

He returned his attention to her, much to the relief of everyone on the other end of his eyes, and picked his bread up again. The rest of the lunch continued with the discussion of the Meiji era and the conversations in the classroom gradually returned to buzz around their ears. Ritsu sipped his tea, content.

* * *

The school life continued as normal, or as normal as such a school life could be. Motorcycles raced across the road outside when the bell rang, the older groups huddled and smoked, Ami hovered over Haruhi's every action, and Ritsu continued to wait for her before walking home together since she adamantly refused the car.

The rumors, however, was something Haruhi didn't know how to deal with.

Or in this case, it was a particular rumor that she couldn't really understand. Ami had been the one to enlighten her about its existence and then proceeded to _stare_, waiting for her reaction. Haruhi had raised one eyebrow to show how unimpressed she had been and went about her day without giving Ami the satisfaction of a grimace. It was only when she was home and alone that she pressed her face into the pillow.

Alright. Yakuza she could handle. Being side-eyed by the police she could ignore.

Being tiptoed around because they were scared of her?

Haruhi groaned. Was it because Ritsu had lost face by publicly apologizing to her? It wasn't often she acknowledged that side of him as the primary part, but she knew he was _first_ the Kasanoda heir and _last_ Ritsu, the friend, to others. Doubly so because in this yakuza mini school there was famous in the streets, and then it was famous with the _police_. The hierarchy that was in place made sense in a convoluted 'who's got a shinier toy' sort of way.

_Haruhi_ wasn't shiny. She was the opposite of shiny, in fact.

Except she was a friend with Ritsu, and therein laid the problem. He was the top dog, and she was somewhere around there because of her association with him. The rumor that had burst out from lack of information spun tales from everything from honey trap to the secret underground spy.

She rubbed her face tiredly. What did honey trap even mean? And what would she be spying on? Homemade recipes? Maybe that was what honey trap meant... Now that Haruhi thought about it, there might be some recipes including honey in it. What did they think she was, the wicked witch in the honeybread house?

She muffled her laughter into the pillow.

"Honey?" Ranka peeked inside, voice tentative. "You okay?"

Her shoulders began to shake.

"Honey?"

Haruhi frantically waved him away, body curling into a tight ball so that her toes could barely be seen. Her father paused slightly at this, but he went in and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Is something wrong? Did the Kasanoda _boy_," and his voice went unerringly dark at this word before going soft again, "do anything? You can talk to your daddy. I can help with your revenge! Toss whatever he made back at him tenfold and I can always have a little _talk_ with him, man to man, if you want."

Her breathing eased up slightly and she only let out a muffled giggle once or twice at his insistent protecting. She could only imagine what this _talk_ would imply and the way Ritsu would flail in his hurry to appease. Really, out of everyone in her life, she couldn't imagine the two of them ever intentionally hurting a hair on her head. Except in training of course. If anything, they had only brought unintentional damages to her life. Like the relentless teasing in her former school that her father was a mother, or the new rumors that was the reason she had a headache. It wasn't their fault at all, of course, but it got tiring real quick.

Sobered by the turn her thoughts had taken and determined to shake it away, she peeked out from the pillow and gave Ranka a warm smile. He returned it with some confusion, but seemed pleased nevertheless to see her respond.

"_Do_ you need help?" He asked gently. "Remember, daddy is always there for you."

"I'm fine." She brushed her fingers against his frown, smoothing them out as she hummed lightly. Haruhi wasn't usually demonstrative with her affections so Ranka took full advantage of it by pulling her into a tight hug. She squirmed slightly but allowed the contact after pulling her arm free. Poking his cheek, she mock-frowned at him. "That should be my question to you, remember? Are you taking your medication as you should? The hospital changed management, so it might have confused your paperwork with another's. Do you feel you need any supplements to your dinner? I don't want you getting another heart attack on me."

His smile softened in paradox to the way his arms tightened against her. "Don't worry. The Doctors assured me that I've had a complete recovery and that I'm healthy as a horse! In fact," his grin widened and she stilled in horror, "I think we should take it to the test."

Before she could do more than shake her head, he had swung her onto his back and stood, forcing her to wrap her arms around his shoulder if she didn't want to be dropped.

"Dad!"

He hoisted her higher and grabbed her legs before taking off, rushing to the kitchen and back to the living room. She gave a splutter more than the squeal he had expected but the muttered, "Your hair tastes like vanilla," explained why. He laughed at her struggle with his hair and she retaliated by jabbing his shoulder.

"Now that I've got your attention, please let me go."

"Nope."

"Wha–"

He began spinning. She clamped down tightly, let loose a squeak and buried her head into his neck.

Ranka laughed and despite the way he got dizzy himself, he forced himself to continue until he wobbled back to the futon. He dropped carefully face first, puffing a bit from the effort. Haruhi scrambled back and made sure she _accidentally_ poked her knee at a nerve cluster on his back.

He yelped. "Haruhi!"

"Dad!" She huffed.

"You're no cute at all. You should be all giggles and breathless squeals!" That statement earned him another jab, and he winced. What was she learning at the Kasanoda compound? Then again, he aimed a big goofy grin at his wary daughter, she would definitely be able to take care of herself when boys came sniffing. "I'm so proud of my daughter," he proclaimed tearfully.

She rolled her eyes. He could see the shift when she decided to ignore the subject altogether as she turned thoughtfully to him. "What you said about revenge... was it true?"

Immediately alert, he rolled onto his back and lifted so that he leaned onto his elbow instead. "What do you mean? Did someone actually do something?" Hastily, he tacked on, "I will definitely help you!"

A smile tugged at her lips. "No, not that part. When you said I should toss it back tenfold?"

He nodded sharply. "Of course. Anything that makes my daughter hurt should hurt more to the attacker! To prove them wrong on your own terms." He lowered his head, voice going dark and threatening, "Whose arm is it that I should twist?"

"I'm fine," she repeated absently. She was looking at the kitchen with narrowed eyes and before he could open his mouth, she was standing. Her smile was a bit too fixed for his liking.

"Honey?" He called in confusion.

Her gaze snapped to his, laughter bubbling out from her. "Honey," she repeated faintly, then shook her head. "Right. If they want honey, I will give them honey."

Then with a passive aggressive approach that she didn't know she had it in her, she began compiling the recipes mother had left her and picked out those she could use. The sharp smile she wore as she served them dinner worried Ranka a bit. He recognized that expression from the other side of Haruhi's gene pool and knew somebody should begin to run.

At least it wasn't directed at him.

Haruhi watched him carefully as he blew on the prawns. "Oh, these are quite expensive. Didn't know we had sea food at home," he commented. She shrugged stiffly and picked up a prawn of her own. Taking a bite, he made a sound of surprise. "Didn't know you liked sweet food either. What is this?"

"Marinated honey-tea prawns," she said casually. "Do you like it?"

He plastered a big soppy smile and aimed it at her. "I love it! I don't think I've had this particular dish since the Yomiuri Giants pitched a perfect game."

She smiled at him, though her lips were perhaps a little too tight. "Great. Then it would be a prefect time to mention something." He hummed to show he was listening, another prawn falling on his tongue. In that instance, her smile dropped and she dropped her own plate harshly. "Stop buying things we don't need!"

The sudden change of tone made him choke, and he had to cough and splutter when he swallowed wrong.

She passed him her own untouched glass of water absently, frown heavy enough that Ritsu would be proud of her. "These prawns would have gone out of date tomorrow, and if I hadn't found them, that would be several yen in the trashcan! Dad, you can't keep on doing this. And the _clothes_," she took a deep frustrated breath. "You don't need so many pairs. _I_ don't need so many pairs. I've outgrown half of them already!"

"But Haruhi!" He wheezed out. "You look so cute in them."

"Maybe I want to look cute in a house?"

He set his face, expression mulish. "I just want you to have everything you might possibly want. Is that so wrong?" She folded her arms and held his defiant stare for a long while.

Eventually she sighed, uncurling enough so she could pick up her plate again. "Suit yourself."

He picked up his own plate with some hesitation, not quite believing the way the conversation had ended. It wasn't the first time Haruhi had brought up the subject of his spending so he was admittedly confused by her easy defeat. It usually ended in a lot more growls and halfhearted promises to pinch his wallet, and not... this. He held a wary eye on her as she continued to eat, quickly decimating her portion with the single minded intent of somebody starving.

Haruhi noticed him staring and gave him a saccharine smile that made him shudder. "Enjoy your prawns."

When she had left the table and taken her dishware with it, he turned his wary eyes onto the prawns. She had mentioned they would go bad soon, hadn't she? He poked one of them. It didn't howl as he had half-expected it would.

He glanced over his shoulder. No Haruhi to be seen. In fact, he could hear her turn on the water in the kitchen.

Turning back, he bit his lip in indecision. Would she really serve something that would take him out of commission for a day? No, not his cute Haruhi. Absolutely not. Yet... Ranka hesitated, looking some more at the innocuous prawns on his plate.

Steeling himself, he popped one into his mouth.

Nothing happened. He tried chewing and the wonderful taste of honeyed tea met his taste buds. Nothing.

With one more glance over his shoulder, he shrugged and decided it had only been his imagination. He bit into another prawn.

The sharp and shocked _yelp_ that met Haruhi's ears in the kitchen finally made her smile turn satisfied. Operation Honey Trap had been a success. She hadn't even needed to smear some wasabi on the honey melons they had at home. Only a bit of pepper and a dash of horseradish on one of the prawns, and really, he usually liked spicy food. He shouldn't complain.

She continued doing her dishes, eyes going distant while she contemplated about school. Why they all insisted on keeping a wary eye on her was beyond Haruhi. It's not like she could serve every student modified honey dishes. They were more than a hundred, all in all. Getting called honey trap and such – _utterly ridiculous_.

Ritsu, on the other hand, needed to stop with his dramatics.

Maybe a honey cake would help?

* * *

The month following, she visited Ritsu frequently in hopes to maybe instill some sense into him. He refused any reasonable argument she had about the debt, insisting in turn that he had wronged her. The louder their discussions became, the wider the yakuza' eyes became, and it got to the point she simply had to throw her hands up in the face of his stubbornness.

"Alright, _fine_. I'll take your stupid debt."

His cheeks colored, smile wobbling between a scowl and a smile. "_Thank you_!" Under his breath, he added, "You didn't need to make it sound so unwanted though."

"It _is_ unwanted," Haruhi volleyed back, only stopping herself from continuing by taking a deep breath and rubbing her temples. She wouldn't fall for that trap. It was over and done with now.

"Hrnh!" He muttered aggressively.

She pinned him with a flat look. "Maybe I will even collect your debt right now."

His expression drained away into a wide-eyed look that mirrored the yakuza who pretended that they had errands around the small garden. Ritsu tried to work his jaw but found he couldn't so much as throw a glare at the witnesses. As was common in cases like these, Ritsu fell back on yakuza training.

Slamming his palms on top of his knees and bowing low enough to be subservient but not entirely submissive, he ground forcefully out, "I will try my hardest to fulfill your wish."

The only sign of her surprise was the twitch to her hand. "Good," she said instead. She folded her arms. "Then I suppose you won't have any problem asking your Kobun to a game of kick the can?"

"I will of course– _what_?!" He was close to making the grass meet his face, the only saving grace being the way his feet had rooted to the ground. Ritsu looked wildly around, face alight with embarrassment and expression deadly enough to scatter the shell shocked yakuza. Turning to her with teeth bared, he hissed, "How did you – I'm too old for that crap!"

If he thought he was being subtle about his longing gazes whenever they were around, he really was more of an idiot than she had first realized.

"So..." She tilted her head. "You don't want to play with me?"

His mouth flapped open, but no words came out.

Drawing upon the lessons Yoshiteru had given her, she slyly asked, "Does that mean you retract the debt?"

Ritsu looked torn between horrified and fondly despairing. His mouth continued to open and close while his arms waved aggressively between them. Eventually, he made a strangled sound and all energy drained out of him. He hung his head.

"How... How did you know?" He whispered.

She stepped up to him and offered him a commiserating smile, patting his shoulder. "You're really obvious."

His bottom lip wobbled, but he gave a sharp nod and spun on his heel, determined to get the task over as fast as humanly possible. He stomped over to the nearest yakuza, almost making the floor quiver. Haruhi shook her head fondly when his approach made the yakuza squeak.

"Play kick the can with me!" Ritsu demanded of the grown man.

He nodded frantically. "Yes, Ritsu-sama!"

"Good," he said sharply, his voice almost strangling the word to oblivion. He made a furious motion to the courtyard and then strode to the next yakuza with the same gritted determination.

Haruhi could almost see the steam that flowed out of her friend's ears. "He's that embarrassed, huh?" She commented absently.

The yakuza who had been directed to her side glanced at her. His lips tightened. "Yea, Nee-san," was all that he offered in return. His shoulders shook slightly, and even Haruhi wasn't sure if that was because he was afraid or containing laughter. Considering the sanity the yakuza contained within, she would guess it was a little bit of both.

Returning her gaze to Ritsu, she smiled. He was stomping around the compound and gathering men to his game of kick the can. The subordinates was rushing left and right to gather the cans needed, shouting between them, "CANS! Get the cans! Just chug it and get it here, Ritsu-sama wants them!" The small inner-courtyard was steadily filling up with men jostling for elbow room, some of them invited to the game but as she had expected, the clear majority was those that had missed playing the game with Ritsu. He was the darling heir, and when he wanted to play, then there better be somebody playing.

Despite how she was forced to retreat to the terrace to not be crushed, her smile did not waver. Ritsu's bright eyes outweighed the clear exasperation she felt for stubborn yakuza.

Honestly. "Simply do what makes you happy," she sighed. Was that so hard to understand?

* * *

Ami slung an arm over her shoulder the moment she entered the classroom. "So the rumor's that you've forced Kasanoda-san to gather all of his men."

She raised one eyebrow, confused. She had somehow expected more. The last time the rumor had centered around her, variations had sprouted forward like branches out of a tree. "That's all?"

"Nah, but that's the only point they agree on. I hardly think you would actually stage a war on the Kyoto branch, for example... Right?" Ami stared intensely at her.

Haruhi only got more confused. "Why would I do that?"

She let out one sharp bark of laughter. Despite her agreeing nod, Haruhi noted the way her shoulders relaxed in relief. "No, no, you're not that bloodthirsty." Steering Haruhi to her seat and allowing her to settle down, Ami remained standing, her hip leaning on the side of the desk. "But is the rumor right? About the first part?"

"I guess," she answered distractedly, rummaging around for the first lesson's books. "Not all yakuza, since there's outer branches of Kasanoda that almost never come to the compound and plenty of men and women that lives with their families, but pretty much."

"... C'mon, do I have to beg? What did you demand of him?"

Haruhi finally looked up at Ami, a smile appearing at the memory. "We played kick the can."

Ami visibly paused.

"Ah... You're joking." She peered at Haruhi, her expression becoming stiff when she shook her head in answer to the silent question. "You're... not joking? You mean to tell me that the debt Kasanoda-san owed to you, where you could demand anything of him and his honor would make him obliged to fulfill, you asked for... a game of kick the can?"

The few classmates that was as early as Haruhi stood silent, hardly daring to breathe.

She only shrugged in answer. "I don't know what to say. That's what happened."

Ami burst out into helpless laughter, some classmates joining in with graceless chuckles at the sheer ridiculousness of it.

Haruhi knew how it must sound to them, but really, this was her everyday life ever since she met Ritsu. It was entirely his fault, and that was one opinion she wouldn't drop.

Ignoring Ami who had seemingly collapsed into her chair with sporadic laughter slipping out from between her tightly clasped lips, Haruhi opened her book and turned to the chapter they were on. She had done her homework the day before and her neck still hurt from the effort. It had become slightly annoying the way her back would ache from late study sessions. She would always have to sit close to the book to even see the words nowadays.

She rolled her shoulders, grimacing lightly. The game of kick the can might have exacerbated things, of course, but she couldn't forget the way the yakuza had cheered their throats hoarse whenever Ritsu would manage to topple the mountain of cans. His eyes would alight before he remembered where he was, and she really couldn't regret the game despite how it had forced her to be up at night.

Discretely rubbing her neck and completely missing the unwavering stares on her form, she stood up with the rest of the class when their teacher entered, bowed, and sat down again with the direction of their class president.

While the teacher droned on about the Meiji and giving a summary of their earlier lessons, Haruhi allowed her eyes to linger on the school board. She sat a few rows into the classroom, comfortably in the middle where it was neither too hot nor too cold in the days. Despite this, she found it a bit cumbersome to be placed there.

Haruhi didn't want to complain though.

She stared at the school board, eyes squinting hard until she began to tear up from the effort and the crisp lines of her teacher's chalky words began to spin and whirl in her vision. She shut her eyes against the confusion, yet it only seemed to make things worse. The kanji danced under eyelids, taunting her by adding and detracting lines to make the meaning incomprehensible.

Tilting her head down and opening her eyes to the sight of her notebook, she pursed her lips. Haruhi rolled her shoulders and gripped her pen a little tighter, allowing the droning of her teacher to float through her while she made notes. She used her textbook diligently when she didn't quite manage to catch a word, only glancing up when their teacher made a motion to add emphasis on a sentence.

Ami was the first one up when the lesson ended, but Haruhi wasn't far behind. While two hours with History always felt longer, Haruhi couldn't quite muster up her usual joy at learning something new.

"Ugh, I can't believe we have to sit inside. And it's _such_ a _beautiful day_, too" Ami groused, words heavy with sarcasm. She linked her hands behind her head, the two buns bobbing alongside her as she turned to Haruhi.

Haruhi faltered. "What do you mean, beautiful day?"

_Please say she heard wrong_.

Ami rolled her eyes, leading the both of them to the lunchroom in a careless pace. Several of their classmates walked past them. "I know you're the student with an apple ready for every teacher, but c'mon, what did I say before? Look around you a little more. It was raining cats and dogs outside!"

All the color drained from Haruhi's face, and she stopped walking.

Ami stopped too, but she didn't seem to notice anything amiss. Her expression was screwed up with heavy dislike. "I can't believe we have to be outside after lunch. We will literally freeze to death in those lecherous bloomers!"

Stiffly, Haruhi turned to the windows lining the hallway, already knowing what she was going to see. She heard herself respond faintly, "I thought you liked those lecherous bloomers." Ami usually wore her skirt short, after all.

"Yeah, but not when it's a _storm_ rolling in."

And as she said, when Haruhi glanced outside and saw through the blurry windows the black rolling clouds, she knew a storm was coming. In the distance, rain had begun to fall, rapidly closing in on their location.

Haruhi tensed.

She was always careful to look at the weather prognosis every week. It was Monday now, and while she had yet to pick up the newspaper for her father, she thought it highly unfair how a storm could surprise them with its presence with only a day to gather itself. There had been no hint of it yesterday.

Uneasily glancing at the window, she picked up her pace unconsciously and walked with Ami to the lunch room. It wasn't until her eyes had landed on red fiery hair and how her shoulders relaxed at the sight of him that she realized who she had been looking for.

Ritsu caught her eyes, eyebrows flying up. He immediately went to her side, plowing into the crowd easily like a boat cutting through the ocean.

"Haruhi," he said breathlessly, "are you alright?"

She gave a tight nod.

Ami lingered, maybe a bit too curious than was healthy considering the glare Ritsu leveled at her. He didn't have to say anything. Ami's eyes flickered between them before she gave a mirthless smile and bowed out of the conversation.

Ritsu herded her outside to the hallway just in case. "Are you sure?" He demanded brusquely.

Haruhi could feel it when a mask slipped onto her face. It was with ease of repetition that she said to him, without even glancing outside, "I'm fine. It's just a bit of rain."

If anything, his face became more fearsome. "_Don't lie_," he hissed out. At her startled look, he took a deep restraining breath and exhaled his frustration. "Not me... Don't lie to me, please."

She breathed out too, her expression mirroring his tight concern. "I'm _fine_," she stressed.

He looked at her dubiously.

"For now," she added.

They stared at each other, neither willing to be the first one to break off. The clamor from the whole first division of the school taking lunch break at the same time got muted, muffled by the heavy doors closing after the last student slipped inside.

The soft patter of rain against the windowsill made her break their eye contact. She frowned at the clouds outside. There was no thunder yet, but she knew it would be only a matter of time before the heavier clouds would descend on them.

Ritsu grumbled, catching Haruhi's attention again. He drew himself up and scowled. "I guess I'll make up a reason for your teacher. You have gym next, right?" He grumbled audibly under his breath, "He's such a pain in the ass."

She stared at him.

"What?" His cheeks colored and he glared at the wall. "He is. There's no use denying it."

She blinked. "I'm... not?"

He flushed more, his stance becoming threatening thanks to it. "Look, I can get you out of school if you don't want to be here when the storm hits." As if to prove his words, he began to usher a silent Haruhi down the stairs. "Just get home and eat ice cream – do whatever you need to do to become happy."

She continued to stare at him, seemingly unable to take her eyes off him. He took advantage of this by gently steering her outside and across an open walkway that would cut straight through towards the shoe lockers. They made a strange sight, a gruff boy with his shoulders nearly to his ears stomping in the rain and a smaller girl following him with a dazed expression. Older students glanced outside their classroom windows and saw the usual Kasanoda pair, up to their strange antics.

Haruhi didn't care at the stares they attracted. She stopped walking, forcing Ritsu to come to a stop too. "What are you trying to do?" Her voice quivered.

Was he... helping her?

But she didn't need help.

"I promised to protect you."

"And I said I could handle myself," she whispered. Her skin crawled at the contact of the rain, reminding her again why her heart was constricting and her chest expanding with live electricity. She shook slightly.

He held her gaze with an unwavering focus. "Please. Let me help you."

She curled her fingers tight, locking her limbs in place and tried to breathe. She... She absolutely _despised_ this weakness of hers. How it made her shake like a leaf, everything that made her Haruhi blown away like the wind.

And yet...

"Alright," she breathed out. She smiled tremulously and nodded. "I trust you."

He nodded back.

They continued across the small garden, hurrying once again inside.

"I can come with you if you want," he began, but continued easily when she shook her head, "but I can also stay. Get the gym teacher to let you slip one measly class."

She nodded absently to his words while also trying to get her wet socks to slip into her shoes. It was a surprisingly hard endeavour. Outside, the rain beat hard down onto the ground, and she winced. The general grumblings the clouds made in storms was uncomfortable but not devastating to her. It was the actual thunder she couldn't stand.

Ritsu abruptly tossed an umbrella at her, and while her reflexes wasn't as good as his, she managed to catch it with some awkward fumbling.

"This isn't mine."

His stare said _take it_. She debated giving it back, but with one more look outside, she accepted it. Shuffling uneasily towards the door, she laid a hand on its cold surface.

She looked back over her shoulder and attempted a small, sincere smile. "You know, you were really cool back there."

"_HRNH_?!" His face exploded into an inferno and he flailed his arms, almost desperately beckoning for her to leave.

She stifled a giggle. Giving him a short bow that made him splutter and scowl even more, she pushed the door open and gratefully escaped the confine of judging eyes while she was at her weakest.

* * *

The sky rumbled over her head and she forced her stiff legs to continue to propel her forward. Her heart drummed a loud rhythm in her ears that she followed, almost sprinting across the streets with a see-through umbrella guiding her way. A few people ran past her, although most were inside in either cozy apartments or stood snug under roofs, waiting for the bus to arrive.

She rushed past the blurry sign of the underground subway and the police station that was located nearby. The friendly police would probably offer her their break room if she asked, even though she was quite clearly skiving class, but she knew she couldn't take advantage of them like that. It would put them in a precarious situation.

Despite this, she sent a longing glance at the street to her right. Her house was much further away, and unfortunately for her, the weather had a bad habit of never waiting for anybody.

"Oi! You!"

A form was running from that direction, the figure nearly unintelligible thanks to the cascading rain.

Haruhi stopped, distracted by the rude address. Where they talking to her? She looked around. "Yes?" She called.

The figure came closer and closer until she could finally see the broad figure of a boy her age looming over her. His lips was curled into a soft bow of a smile, but his eyes were cutting in their intensity. "Yea, you. Can you help me?"

She looked up at him in surprise. He had the colors of a foreigner, blond hair slicked back from his pale eyes and high cheekbones. Even his words had the distinct tone of a more rhythmic dialect. His clothes was from a neighboring school too, so she supposed he hadn't meant to be rude. Maybe he was an exchange student?

Either way, the small lull while he patiently waited for her made Haruhi conscious of the rain beating against her umbrella. She shuffled, uneasy.

"Yes, of course," she replied eventually. She glanced tot he sky before returning her attention to him. "How can I help you?"

"Give me your umbrella."

She blinked. "I'm using it."

The quick refute startled him. He straightened his back, eyes narrowing at her while his smile remained firmly fixed. Rivulets of water poured from the top of his head and down his neck, utterly soaking his black uniform. She felt a brief stab of pity.

"You can always buy an umbrella at the nearest shop," she informed him. "It barely costs anything. And if they don't sell any, I'm sure they can direct you to the nearest shop who do."

He continued to stare at her. It was a bit unerring, but she only shuffled, occasionally glancing up at the sky with a churning stomach. The boy took a step to the side, inclining his head to the street he had left.

Used to non-verbal communication from Ritsu, she obligingly looked over and saw nothing but blurry shapes of houses and forms on the ground. Trash, most likely, that had blown over in the wind. She looked back at him, confused. Going out on a limb, she said, "There's a police station down that road. I can take you there, if you want, and help you get settled. Maybe help you direct any inquires you want?"

He stiffened.

A beat later, she stiffened too from the brief flash she saw from the corner of her eyes. The thunder that raced across the sky five seconds later was subdued in its magnitude, but it made Haruhi stop breathing for a moment. Her knees locked and every muscle she had became rigid. She closed her eyes briefly, pushing out her chest to stimulate normal breathing patterns.

When she managed to look up again, she was met with dark eyes and teeth. He reached a hand out with his fingers curled, almost agonizingly slowly as his eyes were fixed on her.

It took a conscious pull of her strength to command her legs to move again. Her skin felt like it was on fire, burning and at the same time, soaked with ice. Beyond jittery at this point, she stepped forward to meet his outstretched arm and lifted the umbrella above them both. "Look," she said quickly, her voice shaking slightly, "I need this umbrella a bit longer, but come with me and I can give it to you. Is that alright?"

Maybe he didn't have any money to buy an umbrella, maybe he didn't like talking with officers and simply wanted her to introduce him to them, but either way, she couldn't stay still any longer.

His arm hovered between them, awkward and limp. His eyes were large enough that she could see his whites reflecting back her stubborn expression.

"I know you might not want to share an umbrella with me," and wouldn't it be inconvenient if her father saw her sharing with a boy, "but please. I promise you can have it later."

She urged him forward, shuffling forward and beckoning for him to follow.

His arm fell. He continued to stare.

Now he was simply being impossible. She scowled and grabbed his hand with her own free left hand, gave him a tug, and then released him to nudge him forward with her shoulder. The umbrella was meant for a single person, but they were both around twelve years old so they barely managed to fit if they walked side by side.

At her touch, he jolted, eyes widening before he returned to his first expression he had greeted her with. A smile coupled with burning eyes.

"Alright," he said slowly, almost caressing the word with how it came out. "Lead on."

Grateful, she pushed for a fast pace that he easily managed to keep up with. She could feel his stare drill into the side of her face as she ducked into different alleys.

"Are you leading me into an ambush?" He spoke up about halfway there, startling her.

She glanced at him, but her eyes skittered back to the sky a moment later when she saw another flash. Apprehensive, she closed her eyes and continued forward. "No. Unless you count my father, but I doubt he's home."

"... You're leading me to your house?"

Distracted by the delaying thunder, she nodded. "Yes. You can have the umbrella after that." She didn't think it was her friend's umbrella, and even if it was, Ritsu wouldn't mind.

Her feet snagged suddenly on something, and she yelped, eyes flying open. Steady hands on her shoulders prevented her from doing more than stumble.

She smiled at him. "Thank you."

He raised an eyebrow. "You don't think maybe you shouldn't close your eyes around a stranger?" Sardonically, he added, "Maybe you shouldn't lead a stranger to your house either. What are you, eight?"

"Twelve actually." She glanced to the sky and breathed out a relieved smile when there was no sign of thunder. Maybe the lightning had been too far away.

"Huh. You Japs all look the same at that age."

"Rude," Haruhi countered immediately. She was tempted to tilt all the rain water onto his shoulder, but he was already soaked. It wouldn't solve anything. She frowned at him. "Do I really look eight?"

He considered her from his height of a head longer. His smile was entirely fake when he suggested, "Maybe it's your behavior...?"

Haruhi huffed at him, but she didn't respond. He had a strange humor. She would have been insulted if he had actually meant it – however, he reminded her of Ami. She was always testing her, saying things she didn't actually mean so that she could observe Haruhi's reaction. It was a strange past time to be engaging in. Common, but strange.

The tight ball in her stomach eased when she finally turned another corner and saw her apartment complex. She eased into a slower pace and handed the umbrella over to the boy. "Here's where I leave you. Keep the umbrella, and good luck with getting home!"

She gave a short bow before hurrying home, almost sprinting up the stairs and flinging the door open. It was just in time, because thunder boomed behind her and she slammed the door shut behind her, almost diving across the floor to pull a comforter over her head.

As the sky continued its discontent outside the house, she reflected that maybe she should have been more polite before leaving the boy outside. Maybe he needed help getting back? She could at least have offered her name, but as the sky rumbled, she burrowed in and tried to forget anything about the outside weather.

… Maybe she should grab some ice cream like Ritsu had suggested. That would distract her.

* * *

She woke up well rested the next day, greeted by a sleepy Ranka who had collapsed in the bed a few hours earlier. He had also brought home a free newspaper that reported how the weather would stay clear for the rest of the week. A glance outside confirmed this.

Ami was once again the first familiar face she was met with upon entering school. Her arm was slung over her shoulder, and Ami cocked her hip to the side. "People are talking."

"Aren't they always?"

They shared a knowing glance. "True enough," Ami laughed. "And did you know something else? You're an excellent side-stepper of speech."

"Sounds like quite a title," Haruhi commented. She smiled at Ami's disgruntled expression. "Just kidding. I honestly don't know what you mean. What are they talking about now? Honey cakes?"

She looked briefly confused. "Honey cakes?" She shook her head. "No, nevermind. I swear, your entire existence is born to yank my chain." Ami gave a rueful sigh, mostly for dramatics if Haruhi could read her right. They walked to their classroom, and as usual, they garnered glances. Ami put on a swagger and winked.

"People talking?" Haruhi prompted after awhile.

Ami gave her a sidelong glance. She looked ahead again as she stated casually, "Those who wish to stay a neutral observer in the school must not do anything untoward to upset the fragile balance." Ami lowered her voice. "They must not fraternize with the enemy."

The usually cocky girl let that sink in before she brightened again, changing the conversation towards what she had missed yesterday. No matter how Haruhi tried, Ami refused to talk about what she had said.

Fraternizing with the enemy? Was it like how lawyers wasn't supposed to contact the other client?

While she mulled that over and tried to find an answer that didn't begin and end with 'insane', she carefully filed away Ami's warning. Also, the way she had said it... What twelve year old uses words like 'untoward' and 'fraternize'?

Ignoring herself, obviously.

She made careful note of it, but the tension around Ami's eyes convinced her not to point it out. When and if Ami wanted to tell her, she would know.

Soon the bell rang, and she couldn't question her even if she had wanted. Today's Japanese lesson had dumped them with a whole slew of new kanji to learn, and her eyes got a little dizzy only thinking about it. She had been afraid she would know nothing about what the teacher had written on the school board. Thankfully, they had gotten a sheet listing them all that Haruhi actually understood. She knew half of them already from her reading of the law book. Although she would need a dictionary for some of them, she was pleased with the results late study sessions had brought her.

Next period was another teacher-free one, and Haruhi grumbled a little internally at that. Ami took that chance to smile with enough teeth to make anyone wary and propel her towards another empty building site. Haruhi had put her foot down on missing lunch, so Ami was particularly insisent that they should hurrt. "C'mon! You haven't been to any of the fights since we hosted. You've _got_ to see this one."

"Do I really?"

Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "_Yes_. You have to. One more fight and we'll win!"

Haruhi glanced dubiously at the other students hurrying alongside them. There were mainly third years this time, with the few second and first year student intermingled. Apparently this was a popular affair among the older students. "I don't know..."

Ami didn't take no for an answer. Placing them in the middle of the crowd and an arm interloped with her own, Ami effectively stopped her from escaping.

A few dozens maneuvers that the Kasanoda yakuza had instilled in her to break such a grip came into mind, but she dismissed them easily. She was among classmates in the school Ritsu himself had chosen. There was no need for any sort of violence here.

She sighed in defeat, ignoring the triumphant grin Ami wore. "So who are we fighting? What will we win? And _why_?" Before she could say anything, Haruhi clarified, "No, I'm not yanking your chain. Yes, I'm honest. Yes, I actually don't know. No, I'm not going in there without knowing."

Ami closed her mouth. "Huh." She blinked. "That's effective. So to answer your questions like you're a newborn foal who was born from a rock..." Ami trailed off suggestively, waiting for any input to the contrary. Haruhi only waited expectantly. "Huh. Alright then. We're competing against our rivals, that darn school that I will literally cry if you don't know about. We will win power over all the schools in the Tokyo area. And why... Obviously it's so that we will have power over all the schools in the district."

"Obviously," Haruhi echoed flatly.

Ami hummed, neither clarifying her obtuse answers nor diminishing her large grin. The opposing students some random group in Haruhi's school was fighting against appeared to be in middle-school too.

She recognized those uniforms though.

And that boy who stood stonily in the center of the ring that had naturally formed around him. Haruhi tilted her head. His slicked back blond hair was familiar, but more so the umbrella he gripped like a walking cane. "Huh," she muttered. That must be what Ami had meant when she talked about fraternizing with the enemy. She turned to Ami for confirmation. "So he's the enemy?"

"Yes," she whispered back, eyes hungrily taking in the scene of two opposing groups squaring off against each other. Neither had moved yet, so Ami spared some of her attention. "He's single-handedly beaten every other school. I've heard that those who are behind him is only there to take care of the wounded."

"Do you think he will win?"

"No. Yes. Maybe." Ami shrugged. "The odds are everywhere on this one. But our school hasn't lost yet. We're the crème de la crème and he's the upstart foreigner... I wonder who will win."

Those close to them murmured their agreement, shifting to get closer. Ami was one of the shortest in their class if one discounted the two buns on her head, but Haruhi was the shortest of all the first years. She was disgruntled from this and a bit resigned that it would mean she was always going to be jostled around.

A sharp elbow to the side was too much though.

"Hey! Watch it!" She cried out, twisting away from the uncomfortable feeling. She heard a muttered sorry before a strange hush descended on the pseudo-arena.

Ami looked startled, eyes flickering from her and then to the inside of the circle. With an apologetic glance, she stepped away from Haruhi on an unseen signal, leaving Haruhi to suddenly stand alone.

"You."

She... recognized that voice.

Haruhi looked up to see the foreign boy looming over her again with a friendly smile. The eyes communicated something else entirely. "Hello. Again." She tilted her head. "Did you have a nice return trip?"

"Mhm," he smiled. "I think this belongs to you."

She accepted the umbrella with both hands. "Thank you. I appreciate it, but," she glanced around at all the stares directed at the two of them. They were being quite blatant. And rude. He didn't seem to mind though, so she shrugged, offering him a smile. "It's not mine though. I did give it to you."

He mimicked her head tilt. "And I'm giving it back to you."

He was being awfully polite with his words. Was it unlike him, or was it the norm? She nodded slowly. "Alright. Thank you."

"Are you going to watch the fight?"

She glanced at Ami. "Yes. I suppose I am."

He snapped his fingers with a friendly smile. "You suppose? You don't want to?"

"I don't see the point," she answered. Several people gasped, and she shrugged. She really didn't understand the culture they had built on power and prestige. It made more sense than the fixation some people had on appearances and the like, but Haruhi was more a pacifist at heart.

"Then do you wanna ditch?" He asked nicely. It took a moment for that question to get through, and she wasn't the only one who blinked dumbly at him.

"Yes?"

"Good answer."

He nudged her shoulder like she had done to him and started walking to the exit. The students gasped, staggering from the abrupt leave. Haruhi thought she even saw someone face flop.

She hesitated briefly before following him.

"Want to explain what that was all about?"

"Nope."

Haruhi sighed. "Okay then."

He stopped. "Wait, what?" He turned to her, bewildered. "Really?"

"If you don't want to talk, I won't force you."

"Not like you can."

"True," she agreed easily.

He started walking away from the building site again, and since it was along the same route she would use to get back to school, she followed. "You're still eight, you know."

"My behavior again?" She sighed in exasperation. While it was much more simple talking with him when rain clouds didn't threaten them overhead, his words only made her head hurt. "What is it this time?"

He started walking backwards, his hand curled into a fist and grin sharp. "Your sense of danger is –"

"_Nee-san_!" A sharp cry cut through.

And the following few seconds would be imprinted in Haruhi's mind for a long time more.

Several familiar faces dove forward, tackling the startled boy she was walking with and bringing him down to the ground. The two adults from the Kasanoda Syndicate was struggling to subdue him, growling and trying to throw their whole body weight against him. He was putting up quite a fight though. He pushed and rolled, taking advantage of the small height difference they had to make up for his age.

She honestly wasn't sure who would have won if it wasn't for the five more yakuza who surrounded him.

"Nee-san!" They called. "We've subdued the threat!"

She stared at them. "What?"

One of the yakuza stepped up to her and bowed deeply. "We've heard reports that this sinister individual has been seen outside your apartment."

"_What_?" So they _were_ still protecting her house. She knew it! The realization made her face change from neutral to dangerously flat. "That's why you attacked –" She couldn't say anything more before someone had pulled her into a car, or more accurately a limousine, and shut the door on her.

She glared balefully at the yakuza who smiled sincerely at her. "You're safe now, Nee-san!"

They refused to hear a word of what she said on the contrary. They were adamant that the boy had threatened her before and was going to harm her. She tried to explain – only to be cut short again and ushered into the Kasanoda compound and guided to a secluded room where guards was posted outside.

She bristled like an angry cat.

Ritsu came thundering in when she was beginning to entertain thoughts of bodily harm five minutes later. "Are you alright?" He growled out in worry. "Are you –" He stopped short at the smile she aimed at him.

"Can I be let out now?"

"I-I – Yes, I can – I'll open the door," he tripped over his own feet before he opened the door, pressing himself flat against the wall as she passed with that same smile fixed on her lips.

The guards had a similar reaction when they saw her.

"What did you do?" She could hear Ritsu whisper frantically.

"We didn't do anything!"

Haruhi breathed out slowly, trying to calm herself. But the startled look the boy wore when he was tackled stayed in her mind. From experience, she walked along the hallways that housed a few of the lawyers and then deeper into the compound where a certain room with a crane on its wall were. The opposing wall had a red bridge with a moon overlooking the scenery. Kasanoda senior had disliked the idea of her wandering into that area, but he couldn't really deny the result she had brought when she went on a cleaning spree.

His compromise had been to post guards whenever the room was occupied.

She was met with two guards, as she had expected.

"Let me in," she said simply. When they looked ready to protest, she smiled wider and pulled all of her years together with Yoshiteru the lawyer and said, "He was taken for being a suspicious individual and acting threatening. He was found outside my apartment complex and you deemed him a threat. You don't have all the evidence though: I led him to my apartment. He never once initiated contact with me. And lastly, the appearance of an individual should never rule your mind, and since actions speak louder than words, I will say he never acted on any violent impulse he might have had in my presence."

She took a deep breath, squarely meeting their respective eyes.

"Hyobe-san, Hideta-san. Let me in, please."

They shared an uneasy glance. Bowing to her, they murmured, "Yes, Nee-san." That frigid smile was remembered from the last time Haruhi had stormed into the compound in search of their heir. That fight had gotten legendary, the rumors as always spiraling out of proportion.

Haruhi was reaping the benefits from it now.

Striding inside, she immediately bowed to the startled boy and said, "Sorry for the inconvenience. You're free to leave whenever you want."

He gaped.

"I understand if you will never want to hear of me again. The Kasanoda will stay clear of you and I won't ever come to witness another of your fights again if you wish it so."

He nodded slowly. His smile twitched into a friendly one, and she blamed her exhaustion at dealing with paranoid yakuza when she couldn't pinpoint it as false. "Goodbye then."

He walked out without a second word spoken.

She followed him at a distance, making sure that he left the compound unharmed and that anyone who protested would answer to her.

There weren't any protests though. The two guards from that particular room was escorting her around, glaring at anyone who glanced their way. Ritsu did the same, not knowing why but always up for helping.

She didn't go back to school that day, only settling down with a book and ignoring anyone who tried to start any sort of conversation. She stopped by the cooks briefly and wrote out a recipe they could use a few hours before dinner, and went back to her book after that.

That night, the cooks helped prepare her dish of honey-sprinkled meat. Nothing untoward had been added to it. Certainly nothing bad that would warrant the ill grimaces that the dish had been awarded with at the dinner table. Haruhi didn't understand it, but she thought so most of the times she visited, so this was nothing abnormal.

Smiling sweetly at them, she tore a chunk out of the meat and politely chewed with a hand over her mouth. She wasn't quite ready to forgive them yet for the breach in privacy, but she was trying. They were honestly looking out for her well-being, so she would try to treat them with the same courtesy.

That didn't mean she wasn't prepared to serve them food dripping with honey.

For the yakuza, their grimaces might be more from her sickly sweet smile and not the actual food, but no one said a word of it.

* * *

**A/N** Alright, I admit defeat. This was longer than I wanted and the one before was much more shorter. Maybe it balances out? And with how my planning seems to be going, I'm going to cram two years into the next chapter, so it will be roughly 10k too.

I sincerely hope you liked this chapter, even if it seems a bit odd with its events. It will all tie into her middle-school arc.

See you at the next chapter!


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